Sports
Bayern Suffer Nine-Year Low In Shock Loss, Slip Eight Points Off Title Pace
Bayern Munich slumped to a shock 3-2 loss at lowly Bochum on Sunday, suffering a third successive defeat for the first time since 2015 and leaving them eight points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga title race.
The result followed a 3-0 league defeat to Leverkusen last weekend and a 1-0 loss against Lazio in the Champions League as coach Thomas Tuchel came under renewed pressure.
Tuchel was bullish after the match, saying “the loss today wasn’t justified. We were extremely unlucky.”
Bayern were also reduced to 10 men with 13 minutes remaining when Dayot Upamecano elbowed Kevin Stoeger in the box, picking up a second yellow, giving away a penalty and seeing red for the second match in a row.
Stoeger blasted the penalty past Manuel Neuer to give Bochum a 3-1 lead.
Harry Kane scored with three minutes remaining to get Bayern back into the match and even had a chance to equalise late, but directed a tame header straight at Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann.
Bayern had beaten Bochum 7-0 in three of their past five meetings and the visitors scored early, Jamal Musiala blasting in after 14 minutes.
It was the German champions’ first goal in over three hours of football.
Kane had a chance shortly after when one-on-one with Riemann but skied his shot into the stands.
Tuchel lamented his side’s wastefulness in attack, telling DAZN “we had more than enough high-quality chances which those guys would normally put away.”
The home side absorbed waves of Bayern pressure before Takuma Asano levelled after 38 minutes, shooting a low shot past Neuer on a counter attack.
Bayern fell behind just six minutes later, Keven Schlotterbeck heading in a corner.
The visitors turned the screws early in the second-half but the match was delayed for 12 minutes by fan protests against the Bundesliga’s investment plan, after which Bochum held their own against the German giants.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, Upamecano clashed with Stoeger contesting a corner and was sent off.
In teeming rain, Stoeger hit his penalty low and hard to the right, past Neuer’s outstretched hand.
Bayern’s teenage forward Mathys Tel set up Kane after 87 minutes, getting Bayern back into the match but then Kane wasted a golden chance to seize a last-gasp point.
Stoeger said: “It’s an enormous relief. We thought we could get a point and we got three.”
“I think all of Bochum is proud of the performance we delivered.”
Bochum coach Thomas Letsch added: “To win against Bayern is especially nice, given they’re a team stacked with talent.”
– Freiburg, Frankfurt draw –
Earlier on Sunday, Freiburg forward Michael Gregoritsch scored in the last minute to snatch his side a 3-3 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Two goals from Ansgar Knauff, both set up by the impressive Omar Marmoush, who also got on the scoresheet, had Frankfurt on course for three points.
The visitors however failed to clear a corner and the 1.93-metre-tall Gregoritsch headed past Kevin Trapp to level the scores for Freiburg for the third and final time.
A frustrated Trapp told DAZN “we’re shooting ourselves in the foot”.
“It went back and forth, which is a shame for us. We could have taken more out of it.”
Frankfurt’s Marmoush scored first, but Freiburg’s Ritsu Doan hit back just three minutes later on the half-hour mark.
Marmoush’s superb pass allowed Knauff to score on the counter but the match was level again by half-time thanks to a penalty from Italy midfielder Vincenzo Grifo.
Knauff again put Frankfurt in front after 72 minutes before Gregoritsch came to the rescue.
In another match interrupted as fans threw objects on the pitch, Knauff then saved Frankfurt in the ninth minute of added time when he cleared a bouncing ball off the line.
The point moves Frankfurt four clear of Werder Bremen in sixth-place, the last European spot.
UEFA have demoted FA Cup champions Crystal Palace to the Conference League, with Nottingham Forest to take their Europa League slot.
According to UEFA, Palace were sanctioned after breaching its rules on multi-club ownership.
The rule states that clubs with the same owner are barred from competing in the same UEFA competition if an individual or ownership group is considered to have a decisive influence over more than one of those teams.
Nottingham Forest are expected to replace them in the tournament, although the Court of Arbitration for Sport have yet to decide.
John Textor, Crystal Palace’s largest shareholder and the owner of Lyon. had till March 1 to resolve the multi-club ownership issues.
However, Textor recently agreed a deal to sell his Palace shares to the US billionaire Woody Johnson, but the move has not been completed and was deemed to have come too late.
Lyon were also expected to face similar sanctions but won their appeal against relegation to Ligue 2 this week, clearing them to take their place in the tournament.
The Crystal Palace officials have revealed that they will appeal the demotion at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Despite ongoing speculation, Manchester United have not made any concrete move to sign Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, as uncertainty continues to surround his future at Napoli.
Osimhen is reportedly eager to leave the Serie A club permanently this summer, having made it clear that he is unwilling to play under new head coach Antonio Conte.
Although Napoli are keen to retain the 26-year-old forward — especially following his impressive loan spell at Galatasaray — the player is determined to return to the Turkish club on a permanent basis. Reports suggest Galatasaray are ready to offer Osimhen a lucrative deal worth around €16 million per season, a major factor given the lack of offers from top European clubs so far.
Manchester United have long been linked with Osimhen as they continue their search for a prolific striker to resolve their recent goal-scoring struggles. However, Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed on his YouTube channel that United have not submitted any offer for Osimhen — largely due to his high wage demands.
“Many are asking if Manchester United might step in to hijack the deal,” Romano said. “I’m not aware of any move from United — not just because of the €75 million price tag, but mainly due to salary concerns.
“Osimhen earns €12 million net per year at Napoli, and Galatasaray are willing to go up to €16 million. That kind of salary is far beyond Manchester United’s current wage structure.”
Romano emphasized that salary has been a consistent issue preventing Premier League clubs from pursuing the striker, both last summer and now.
Napoli have reportedly rejected Galatasaray’s bid for Osimhen, leaving the player’s next move unclear just weeks before the new season begins. The club has also instructed him to report for pre-season training — but as of the time of writing, Osimhen has yet to do so.
Chinwendu Ihezuo’s late goal sealed a second consecutive win for the Super Falcons at the ongoing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco on Thursday.
With the win, the Falcons now have six points, which guarantees the team a place in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Coach Justin Madugu stuck with the same starting eleven against Tunisia. But after a difficult first half with no breakthrough, he introduced Esther Okoronkwo and Chinwendu Ihezuo to inject fresh energy.
The substitutions eventually paid off as the Mares’ resistance was broken late in the game.
Ihezuo ensured that her introduction into the game counted in the 88th minute, latching onto a loose ball in the opponent’s box to give Nigeria the maximum points.
The late strike against Botswana is Ihezuo’s second goal in the tournament, following her strike in the 3-0 win against Tunisia in Nigeria’s first match.
Both Okoronkwo and Ashleigh Plumptre also had a chance in the second half, but were denied by the Botswana keeper.
Nigeria will play their last match in the group against Algeria on Sunday.
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