Bayern Munich 1-1 Borussia Monchengladbach: Champions require late Sane leveller in frustrating draw

Bayern Munich were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Monchengladbach as their winning start to the Bundesliga season came to an end.

The champions had been in blistering form previously in 2022-23, scoring 15 goals across three wins, but they were met with firm resistance by Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer on Saturday.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side saw two first-half Sadio Mane goals disallowed before Dayot Upamecano’s mistake was pounced upon by Marcus Thuram, whose cool finish looked like it might be enough to win the game.

Bayern threw everything at Gladbach in the second half, with most of it repelled by Sommer until a powerful Leroy Sane effort snatched a point – the very least the hosts deserved but enough to take them back to the top of the table.

Consistent with the theme that was to develop throughout the game, Bayern were nearly ahead within a minute, but Sommer made a brilliant save to palm Upamecano’s header wide.

The hosts continued to dominate, and Mane saw two goals ruled out for offside in quick succession before Nagelsmann’s men were hit with a sucker-punch before half-time.

Upamecano failed to deal with a long punt forward, and Thuram raced onto it, sliding the ball past Manuel Neuer to give his side the lead against the run of play.

Bayern ramped up the pressure further with a second-half onslaught, and Sommer was forced into an excellent double-stop to deny Mane from close range with just under half an hour left.

The Switzerland international was alert again to keep out Sane in a one-on-one situation, but the winger finally got the better of him on 83 minutes, steering into the bottom-left corner.

Bayern pressed for a winner, yet Sommer returned to form to keep them at bay, finishing with a remarkable 19 saves.