bundesliga

Wondergoals aplenty as Freiburg dent Bayern Munich’s title hopes

04.03.2024

Bayern Munich’s hopes of defending their Bundesliga title suffered a major blow on Friday as they were held to a 2-2 draw in Freiburg, with wondergoals from Jamal Musiala and Mathys Tel cancelled out by equally stunning strikes from Christian Günter and Lucas Höler.

Freiburg 2-2 Bayern
Goals: 1-0 Günter 12' (assist: Höfler), 1-1 Tel (35'), 1-2 Musiala 75' (assist: Kim), 2-2 Höler 87' (assist: Gregoritsch)

Freiburg made their intentions known inside the first few seconds when Vincenzo Grifo fired over from distance, setting the tone for an early period of dominance by the hosts. Roland Sallai very nearly opened the scoring a short while later, first seeing his close-range header saved by Manuel Neuer before hitting the crossbar with an overhead kick on the rebound. Bayern failed to properly clear their lines after that, leading to Günter seizing his chance, drilling in a stunning shot from outside the box. The Freiburg captain was subsequently thwarted by Neuer one-on-one, while Sallai and Grifo both squandered chances to extend the lead. That proved to be costly, as Bayern gradually gained a foothold and equalised with an eye-catching strike of their own, Tel brilliantly bending an effort into the far corner from the edge of the area.

Harry Kane could have completed Bayern’s comeback early in the second half, but he uncharacteristically dragged his shot wide of the post from a promising position. Maxi Eggestein drilled over from distance in response, before the teams began to cancel each other out in midfield. Kane had another opportunity midway through the half but could only steer his half-volley off target from Jamal Musiala’s pass. It was largely one-way traffic towards the Freiburg box in the closing stages, with Musiala denied by Noah Atubolu from close range before Kane had a header cleared off the line from the ensuing corner. Musiala thought he had the final say in the 75th minute when he brilliantly jinked between two defenders inside the box and curled the ball inside the far post from a tight angle. Thomas Tuchel’s side looked on course for a much-needed victory in the context of the title race with Bayer Leverkusen, but they were unable to hold on as Lucas Höler guided a volley past Neuer in the closing stages from a Michael Gregoritsch knock-down, leaving the door wide open for Leverkusen to extend their advantage to 10 points when they face Cologne on Sunday.

Match stats

Milestone game: this was Bayern's 2,000th Bundesliga match.
Tel made his first Bundesliga start of the season, following a league-high 19 appearances as a substitute.
The French teenager scored his first goal since Matchday 5. He now has nine Bundesliga goals overall.
Günter's goal was the first Freiburg have scored from outside the box this term.
It's was the defender's first goal of 2023/24, while Nicolas Höfler provided his first assist.
Musiala's goal was his 30th in the Bundesliga overall, making him the youngest Bayern player ever to acheive that tally.

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Teams

Freiburg: Atubolu - Sildillia, Ginter, Gulde, Günter (c) - Eggestein (Philipp 85'), Höfler - Dōan (Weißhaupt 77'), Sallai (Gregoritsch 77'), Grifo (Röhl 64') - Höler
Uused subs: Müller, Szalai, Makengo, Keitel, Muslija
Out: Kübler (thigh), Kyereh (knee), Lienhart (groin), Schmidt (abdominals)
Coach: Christian Streich

Bayern: Neuer (c) - Kimmich (Laimer 64'), Dier, Kim, Guerreiro (Davies 64') - Pavlović, Goretzka - Müller (Choupo-Moting 76'), Musiala (Upamecano 83'), Tel - Kane
Unused subs: Ulreich, Zvonarek, Zaragoza
Out: Aséko (ankle), Boey (hamstring), Buchmann (thigh), Coman (knee), De Ligt (suspended), Gnabry (thigh), Mazraoui (hamstring), Sané (groin), Sarr (knee)
Coach: Thomas Tuchel