Jupp Heynckes' men bossed the game in Bavaria from start to finish
but, in the end, they were indebted to Xherdan Shaqiri for salvaging a
point against obdurate opponents
Bayern Munich battered Borussia Monchengladbach
throughout their Bundesliga clash at the Allianz Arena on Friday night
but the leaders were ultimately held to a 1-1 draw by their resilient
visitors.
For a long time it appeared as if it might be one of
those nights for the Bavarians, who fell behind midway through the first
half to a penalty from Thorben Marx.
However, Xherdan Sharqiri
netted his first Bundesliga goal to level matters just before the hour
mark and the hosts looked certain to force a winner. But they were
unable to claim all three points, which would have seen them equal their
own record for the highest tally at the half-way point of the season,
and had to settle for a draw which merely extends their lead at the
summit of the standings to 12 points.
Bayern dominated possession and territory early on, with
Franck Ribery particularly prominent, the Frenchman causing all sorts of
problems with his movement and quick feet.
However, the visitors
weathered the early storm and then silenced the Allianz Arena by taking
the lead against the run of play 21 minutes in.
Tolga Cigerci
tried to dink the ball to the far post but his cross struck the arm of
Boateng. The defender had turned his back on the ball but referee Tobias
Welz pointed to the spot regardless and Marx drilled home the resulting penalty to put Monchengladbach a goal to the good.
Bayern
were left enraged by the penalty decision but they channelled their
aggression in the right way and set about peppering Marc-Andre ter
Stegen’s goal with shots. The Monchengladbach pulled off a spectacular
one-handed save to keep out Ribery’s drive from the edge of the area,
though he was merely a spectator when Dante’s header from a corner
clipped the top of the crossbar.
It had been an eventful few
minutes for Dante, who had been on hand to clear off the line after
Manuel Neuer had come running out of his area to intercept a long ball
forward only to beaten to it by Cigerci.
However, even though
Bayern looked vulnerable to the counterattack, Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes
opted to make a very attacking substitution just before half-time,
sending on Shaqiri in place of Javi Martinez.
The hosts looked
even more menacing going forward as a result and they would have drawn
level four minutes into the second half had Ter Stegen not reacted
wonderfully well to get down to his left to keep out Bastian
Schweinsteiger’s low shot, which seemed destined for the bottom corner.
Dante
then went close once again with a header before Mario Gomez took over
from Mario Mandzukic up front. However, it was the earlier substitution
which reaped dividends moments later when Shaqiri beat
Ter Stegen at the goalkeeper's near post with a calm left-footed finish,
after the Swiss had been the grateful recipient of Tony Jantschke’s
horribly ill-advised pass across his own area.
Bayern spent the
remaining 30 minutes pouring forward in search of a winner. Shaqiri went
close to netting a second with a curling free kick before Ribery drew
another flying save out of Ter Stegen with a sumptuously executed
25-yard volley.
However, Monchengladbach stood firm to claim a
valuable point that keeps them firmly in contention for a European
place, while their hosts were left to lament their failure to ensure
that they will go into the winter break with a double-digit lead over
second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
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