Bayern Munich slip up again as Lucas Holer scores late Freiburg equaliser

By Sports Desk March 01, 2024

Bayern Munich’s floundering Bundesliga title defence was dealt another blow after they were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw at Freiburg following Lucas Holer’s 87th-minute equaliser.

Thomas Tuchel’s men were on course for a much-needed comeback success at Europa-Park Stadion after eye-catching strikes from Mathys Tel and Jamal Musiala overturned Christian Gunter’s early opener.

But, with Harry Kane largely peripheral, Freiburg forward Holer hooked home late on to leave Bayern seven points adrift of leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

Xabi Alonso’s table-toppers can stretch their advantage to 10 points in Sunday’s derby at local rivals Cologne.

Bayern ended a three-match losing run, during which it was announced Tuchel will leave at the end of the season, thanks to Kane’s brace in last weekend’s 2-1 success over RB Leipzig.

The outgoing head coach made two enforced changes from that win as defender Kim Min-jae and 18-year-old forward Tel replaced the suspended Matthijs de Ligt and injured Leroy Sane.

Bayern began slowly and were punished with just 12 minutes on the clock.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer initially appeared to have rescued his side by producing a stunning save to repel Roland Sallai’s close-range header before touching the same player’s subsequent overhead kick on to the crossbar.

But the Bavarians failed to fully clear the danger and Gunter, whose season has been severely disrupted by two broken arms, emphatically capitalised by lashing a left-footed drive into the bottom right corner from the edge of the 18-yard area.

With England captain Kane struggling to make an impact, the away side were fortunate not to fall further behind.

Neuer denied Gunter his second from a tight angle before Vincenzo Grifo flashed narrowly wide.

After Thomas Muller and Kane each had penalty appeals waved away, Bayern were rewarded for a period of dominance with a spectacular 35th-minute equaliser.

France Under-21 international Tel did the damage, marking his first Bundesliga start of the season by delightfully curling home from the left corner of Freiburg’s penalty box following a partially-cleared corner.

Bayern could have led at the break as Musiala’s close-range poke was blocked by home keeper Noah Atubolu after Leon Goretzka and Raphael Guerreiro threatened.

Kane dragged a left-footed effort wide early in the second period before later seeing a header cleared off the line after Musiala wasted a golden chance.

Musiala soon made amends with a moment of magic, cutting in from the left and dancing beyond Kiliann Sildillia and Maximilian Eggestein to curl into the far corner.

The fine solo strike looked to be enough for victory but the visitors paid a heavy price for failing to kill off the contest when Holer fired home on the turn following a long throw into the box.

Bayern move on to the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Lazio looking to overturn a 1-0 aggregate deficit, while Freiburg prepare to begin their Europa League knockout tie with West Ham.

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