Hoffenheim hand Bayern Munich their first loss of 2020 in 4-1 defeat

Bayern Munich’s unbeaten streak is over!

After an unbeaten 2020 under Hansi Flick, Bayern have finally been defeated by an outstanding Hoffenheim performance.

Ermin Bikakcic headed in a corner delivered by Dennis Geiger in the 16th minute to open the scoring. Despite Alphonso Davies getting his head to it, the ball ended up hitting the roof and going into the net. 

Only 8 short minutes later, Moanes Dabour punished Bayern’s sloppy play from behind by chipping Neuer on the break to make it 2-0. 

Despite Joshua Kimmich scoring an absolute screamer from well outside the box to make it 2-1 10 minutes before half-time, his efforts were in vain. 

Another defensive problem lead to Andrej Kramaric pushing Hoffenheim ahead 3-1 in the 77th minute. The goal was an excellent strike from a very difficult angle and was a well-deserved goal for the Croatian. 

However, more drama was yet to come. In the dying minutes of regulation time, Ihlas Bebou broke past the Bayern back-line and was in for a goal. However, Neuer charged out to the edge of the penalty area and took down Bebou to give Hoffenheim a penalty. 

There was little debate to the decision as it was a clear and obvious foul.

Andrej Kramaric made no mistake from the spot, making it 4-1 in stoppage time. Though Neuer dived the right way, the shot was too high and too powerful for the German to deal with. 

Assessing Bayern’s game

Credit must be given where credit is due. Hoffenheim were the better team and could’ve easily gotten 5 or 6 goals had they had better luck. 

On the other hand, Bayern simply did not look like themselves against Hoffenheim. They were repeatedly punished for holding up an extremely high defensive line. In addition, Boateng and Pavard’s lack of pace did the Bavarians no favours while getting back to defend from the break. 

Bayern had a fair share of chances to score, but squandered them or had them saved.

All in all, it was a tough day for the Champions and Hoffenheim, better team on the day, deserved the win. However, it would be foolish to write off the Bavarians following the defeat. 

If anything, expect them to come back stronger and hungrier for winning in the next game.

Bayern play arch rivals Dortmund on the 30th of September in the DFL Supercup. The first Klassiker of the season promises to be a brilliant one. 

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