Ramy Bensebaini was the hero for Gladbach with both goals in a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich © AFP / UWE KRAFT
Berlin, Germany, Dec 7 – Bayern Munich dropped to seventh in the Bundesliga Saturday after Ramy Bensebaini’s injury-time penalty fired leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach to a 2-1 win over the reigning champions.
A second straight league loss puts pressure on Hansi Flick, who has been put in charge until January and was tipped to see out the season as interim boss after winning his first five games.
Bayern, now seven points adrift in the title race, went ahead at Borussia Park when Ivan Perisic fired home just after the break, but defender Bensebaini headed Gladbach level with an hour gone.
The Algerian then struck his decisive stoppage-time penalty after Bayern’s Javi Martinez was sent off for a second yellow card.
There were wild scenes of celebrations from home fans at the final whistle of a game Bayern dominated for long stretches.
But like last week’s 2-1 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen they only had themselves to blame as they squandered a string of chances.
Bayern had six clear first-half chances, two of which saw striker Robert Lewandowski fire wide.
“I’m annoyed that we lost the last two games, although we were clearly better and had more chances,” fumed Flick.
Bayern nearly grabbed the lead on 29 minutes when Joshua Kimmich’s shot slid under Yann Sommer’s block, but the Gladbach goalkeeper scrambled and just managed to stop the ball from fully crossing the line.
Bayern finally broke through when Perisic, a first-half replacement for the injured Corentin Tolisso, hammered his shot on the turn to beat Sommer four minutes after half-time.
However, Gladbach drew level on the hour mark against the run of play as they scored with their first clear chance when Bensebaini powered his header past Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The game turned in the 90th minute when Spain international Martinez gave a penalty away and was sent off for a clumsy tackle on Marcus Thuram in the area.
Bensebaini showed nerves of steel to convert the spot-kick and keep Gladbach a point clear of RB Leipzig at the summit.
Bayern slid down three places after Bayer Leverkusen secured a 2-1 win at home to Schalke thanks to a pair of goals from Lucas Alario.
– Dortmund run riot –
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig recorded a fifth win on the trot as Timo Werner netted twice in a 3-1 victory at home to Hoffenheim.
The Germany striker scored the opener and added a second-half penalty to climb up to 15 league goals this season — one behind Robert Lewandowski.
Midfielder Marcel Sabitzer scored Leipzig’s third before defender Ermin Bicakcic notched a consolation goal for Hoffeheim just before the final whistle.
Dortmund’s England winger Jadon Sancho celebrates after scoring against Fortuna Dusseldorf in Saturday’s 5-0 home win © AFP / INA FASSBENDER
Borussia Dortmund eased the pressure on coach Lucien Favre to go third with a 5-0 home romp against Fortuna Duesseldorf, who dropped into the bottom three, as England winger Jadon Sancho and club captain Marco Reus both scored twice.
Having ground out a 2-1 win with 10 men at Jurgen Klinsmann’s relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin last weekend, Dortmund ran riot after the break at home with four second-half goals.
Reus put the hosts ahead at Signal Iduna Park and then combined with Sancho and Thorgan Hazard after the break to shred Duesseldorf’s defence.
Sancho had a goal ruled out for offside on 52 minutes but set up Hazard four minutes later, before scoring Dortmund’s third goal with an hour gone after combining with Reus.
Reus and Sancho then both claimed their second goals of the contest inside a devastating four-minute spell.
Freiburg moved up to fifth, a point above Bayern, with a 1-0 win at home to Wolfsburg courtesy of a second-half winner from Jonathan Schmid while mid-table Augsburg enjoyed a 2-1 win at home to Mainz.
