Bayern Munich extended their winless run to four games after a lackadaisical display against Borussia Monchengladbach ended in defeat.
German champions Bayern Munich slumped to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat against Borussia Monchengladbach as they extended their winless streak to four games. The Foals were clinical in attack, capitalising on their early chances to obtain a shock 2-0 lead within the 16th minute mark.
Alassane Plea drew first blood when the Frenchman produced a clinical effort to find the back of the net, leaving Manuel Neuer helpless in the process. The French front man has now scored five goals in seven league outings, making him the second most prolific summer signing in the Bundesliga this season.
Soon after Plea’s opener, Lars Stindl doubled his side’s lead with a neat finish though credit must be given to Jonas Hofmann for his clever pass to set the Gladback captain up. Thereafter, Bayern dominated the rest of the game with heaps of possession but little in way of the desired end product.
In fact, Gladbach mustered the same amount of shots on target as Bayern did in the entire game, despite the Bavarians attaining 73% possession while racking up 14 shots on goal, compared to Gladbach’s seven. And just when it seemed that the game is over for the hosts, Patrick Herrmann put the nail in the coffin by scoring from a clever corner routine in the 88th minute.
4 – For the first time since 1999 Bayern have failed to win four competitive games in a row during the Oktoberfest. Crisis. #FCBBMG
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) October 6, 2018
Here at the Hard Tackle, we run the rule over Niko Kovac’s men following their listless performance against the Rheinland giants.
Manuel Neuer: 4/10
A disappointing performance from the Bayern Munich captain, whose speculative pass to Thiago Alcantara exposed the Bayern defence. Neuer should have done much better in keeping out Lars Stindl’s effort for Gladbach’s second goal, although he was completely helpless for the other two goals.
Joshua Kimmich: 5.5/10
It was one of those rare matches, where Kimmich failed to shine as a full-back. The 23-year-old desperately tried to provide more width by marching forward at regular intervals, which left Bayern defensively exposed in the process. He was abysmal after shifting to the left side of the pitch in order to deputise for the injured David Alaba, notably being beaten quite easily by Denis Zakaria late in the game.
Niklas Sule: 6/10
A decent display from Niklas Sule, although he was at fault for blocking Neuer’s line of sight for the opener. The German international was otherwise solid, making a couple of important tackles and winning three aerial duels, although he was lacking the adequate support from defensive partner Mats Hummels.
Mats Hummels: 5/10
Yet another listless display from Hummels, who was definitely the weak link in the Bayern defence. The Gladbach players made a plethora of runs at the former Borussia Dortmund captain, leaving him helpless in the process.
With both Jerome Boateng and Hummels suffering lacking in form in this early part of the season, Niko Kovac will certainly have a mammoth task of solidifying the Bayern defence, as he aims for a swift recovery after the international break.
David Alaba: 6/10
Alaba did well in providing more width in the final third throughout the first half. However, he tore his hamstring in the second half and had to be subbed off five minutes before the hour mark. Although an official diagnostic is yet to be made, the Austrian could be sidelined for a few weeks, which will be a huge blow for the Bavarians.
Thiago Alcantara: 5/10
At fault for conceding the second goal, Thiago lacked inventiveness to drive the Bayern attack as he so often does. He evidently struggled to cope with Christoph Kramer, who was more than solid in dealing with the talented Spaniard.
Although Thiago was quite useful, at times, especially in Bayern’s transition, he lacked the reqiored creativity and vigour to make a difference in the final third. A below-par performance from the former Barcelona superstar.
Arjen Robben: 7/10
Was one of the better Bayern attackers in the first half in what was his 300th appearance with the club. His industry on the right flank caused a myriad of problems for the Gladbach defence. However, he was shockingly taken off after half-time as he made way for Serge Gnabry when there were more deserving candidates to be subbed off than the Flying Dutchman.
James Rodriguez: 5/10
A lackadaisical display from the Colombian international, who, much like Thiago, lacked the inventiveness to cause any kind of trouble for the opposing defence. Furthermore, James struggled to influence the game with his usual darting runs forward, largely thanks to Gladbach’s diligent defending throughout the course of the game.
Leon Goretzka: 4/10
Arguably the worst player on the pitch, Leon Goretzka produced yet another forgetful display as his struggles in coping with Bayern’s lofty expectations continues. He was even nutmegged once and looked very complacent in midfield throughout the game. Should have been taken off at half-time instead of Robben.
Thomas Muller: 4.5/10
Looked clueless throughout the first half, often lacking imagination in the final third. He was presented with arguably the biggest chance of the game early on. However, Muller was denied by a brilliant save from goalkeeper Yann Sommer as well as the offside flag. Was rightly taken off after half-time as he made way for Franck Ribery.
Robert Lewandowski: 4.5/10
Lewandowski was anonymous in attack for large parts of the game and he had a goal chalked off due to offside in the second half. He made only 16 touches, significantly lower than anyone else on the pitch in another abject display from the Polish international,.
Kovac will certainly be worried about Lewandowski’s lack of form especially with backup striker Sandro Wagner also underperforming.
SUBSTITUTES
Serge Gnabry: 7/10
Made a positive impact on the game after coming on for Arjen Robben after the restart. Gnabry made a plethora of promising attacking runs towards the Gladbach defence and although he lacked the end product, he certainly deserves to be in the starting lineup in the upcoming matches.
Franck Ribery: 4/10
Did nothing of note upon replacing Thomas Muller at half-time. An underwheming display from the Frenchman, who deserves to be benched in the upcoming games, in order to make room for Serge Gnabry.
Renato Sanches: 5/10
Failed to provide any spark in the Bayern attack after replacing the injured David Alaba just before the hour mark. However, Sanches made a couple of promising runs across the Gladbach defence.
