Hoffenheim holds Bayern to a 1-1 draw. The hosts made a bright start to this game: Kramaric and Rutter both went close before Baumgartner gave them the lead with an excellent volley.
However, from there, Bayern dominated. The visitors piled on the pressure and equalized on the stroke of half-time through Lewandowski’s header.
And the second half continued in the same vein. Again, Gnabry hit the post, Muller had a shot brilliantly cleared off the line, and Musiala could only find the side netting after rounding Baumann.
Nevertheless, the hosts defended bravely and held on to an important point.
Starting Lineup:
HOFFENHEIM (3-4-1-2): Oliver Baumann;
Stefan Posch, Florian Grillitsch, Kevin Vogt;
Pavel Kaderabek, Diadie Samassekou, Angelo Stiller, David Raum;
Christoph Baumgartner; Georginio Rutter, Andrej Kramaric.
BAYERN MUNICH (3-4-2-1): Manuel Neuer;
Benjamin Pavard, Niklas Sule, Lucas Hernandez;
Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Kinglsey Coman;
Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane; Robert Lewandowski.
Goals:
BAUMGARTNER! 1-0. Hoffenheim take the lead. The hosts sweep forward as Kramaric feed Raum near the byline. Raum sends in a precise cross, and Baumgartner acrobatically guides it beyond Neuer and into the bottom corner from eight yards!
LEWANDOWSKI! 1-1. Bayern equalizes on the stroke of half-time. Kimmich puts in an outswinging corner, and Lewandowski climbs over Samassekou to plant a powerful header beyond Baumann and in!
Hoffenheim coach Sebastian Hoeness post-match interview:
“We had a great chance at the beginning through Andrej Kramaric, but after that, we didn’t hold on to enough balls. Then it became the game we wanted it to be. We had a couple of good chances before making it 1-0. However, I was annoyed by the equalizer because we should have defended better before the goal,” Hoeness told reporters.
“We were lucky that Bayern didn’t score after the break but remained dangerous and almost won. Unfortunately, the lucky punch failed to materialize, but we mustered all our courage and gave the fans a spectacle,” added the former Bayern youth and reserves coach.
So, where else do Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich go from here?
The result means Bayern moves 10 points clear at the top of the league, although second-place Dortmund has two games in hand.
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, drops to fifth after Freiburg’s late winner against Wolfsburg.
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