VAR refuses Gladbach penalty: Summer leaves FC Bayern in despair

Friday 13th August 2021

VAR denied Gladbach a penalty
Summer leaves FC Bayern in despair

Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Bayern open the 59th season of the Bundesliga with a remarkable opening game. The record champions fall behind early and are lucky in the end that the video referee decides in favor of the Munich team.

Defending champion Bayern Munich has missed a perfect start to the 59th season of the Bundesliga under the new coach Julian Nagelsmann. In a fast-paced classic at Borussia Mönchengladbach, the German record champions, who were superior over long stretches, had to be content with a 1-1 (1-1) despite numerous chances. The strong goalkeeper Yann Sommer held the point for the hosts.

Nagelsmann is still waiting for his first success as a Bayern coach. But there was another series under the eyes of the new national coach Hansi Flick. The reigning champions remained unbeaten in the 20th season opening game since 2002/03. World footballer Robert Lewandowski prevented this with his equalization (42nd) after falling behind by Alassane Plea (10th). “You’re never satisfied if you don’t win. In the end you have to live with the point,” said Nagelsmann.

The Gladbachers quarreled with referee Marco Fritz after the final whistle. “It’s a penalty for me, it pulls it up, it hits it down,” said Lars Stindl at DAZN about one of the two scenes in question in the final phase, in which Fritz had not decided on a penalty for the hosts. “But we have to deal with it, it’s tough.” The new Gladbach coach Adi Hütter said on Sat.1 that “whining” doesn’t help much.

“It wasn’t a perfect football of ours, we made a lot of mistakes. But the first game is over, now we can look ahead,” said Lewandowski on Sat.1. Nagelsmann brought on the defensive Niklas Süle and Josip Stanisic to replace the injured Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard. In contrast to the lackluster cup win at third division club 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1-0), Hütter changed in one position: Plea replaced Laszlo Benes.

Summer lasts almost everything

After the bumpy preparation without a win in four test matches, the Munich team did not find their rhythm at all in the initial phase, the nimble Gladbachers brought the defense of the guests into great distress several times. Patrick Herrmann narrowly missed the lead with his shot from the edge of the penalty area (4th), Stanisic saved two minutes later from captain Lars Stindl, who was ready to shoot.

After Alphonso Davies lost the ball in midfield, the hosts took the lead in front of 22,925 spectators. Herrmann and Stindl played Plea well worth seeing, who kept her nerve in front of national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. After a quarter of an hour, the Munich found better in the game. With overwhelming possession football, the guests gained more and more control of the game, but the outstanding summer prevented Lewandowski (14th, 26th) and Stanisic (37th) from equalizing.

Three minutes before the break, Bayern rewarded themselves for their effort. After a corner from Joshua Kimmich, who like Neuer and Thomas Müller played a game for the first time since the defeat in the European Championship round of 16 against England, Lewandowski escaped opponent Nico Elvedi and gave Sommer no chance.

Controversial scenes, but no VAR intervention

The guests stayed on the trigger against the low Gladbachers at the beginning of the second half. Leroy Sané tested summer (48th) from a distance. The Swiss national goalkeeper also had no problems with Lewandowski’s header (52nd).

Loudly driven by the fans, the hosts released their grip a little. Stefan Lainer’s header (54th) was the first goal approach in a long time. But the Munich team still had the better options. After a nice pass from Serge Gnabry, Davies also found his master in summer (58th), who also saved against Lewandowski two minutes later. Hütter reacted with a double change. Jonas Hofmann and Marcus Thuram should provide new momentum on the offensive. The people of Gladbach were now bolder again. Neuer parried brilliantly against Stindl (70th).

Bayern now looked a bit tired in view of the short preparation. Nagelsmann brought fresh strength with Kingsley Coman and Jamal Musiala. But the goal almost made Gladbach. Thuram slipped free in front of Neuer but missed the ball (79th). In the final phase, Bayern were lucky in two controversial scenes that referee Marco Fritz did not decide on a penalty.