OPen
Michael Da Silva
Client:
AFP

Bayern Munich thrashed by merciless Frankfurt

Client

AFP

Year

2023

Scope of Work

Words

Location

Frankfurt, Germany

Bayern Munich suffered a jolt to their title defence, losing their first league game of the season 5-1 in Frankfurt on Saturday while RB Leipzig triumphed 3-2 at 10-men Borussia Dortmund.
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In a wet and wild contest in Frankfurt, the hosts raced into an extraordinary 3-0 first-half lead, with Omar Marmoush, Junior Dina Ebimbe, and Hugo Larsson scoring the goals as Dino Toppmöller's side outmuscled a timid Bayern.
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Joshua Kimmich dragged Bayern back into the match just before half-time but French midfielder Ebimbe had other ideas, capping a scintillating counter-attack after a mistake by Dayot Upamecano to make it four.
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Ansgar Knauff added a fifth to put the game out of reach for Thomas Tuchel's side to complete a memorable performance for Frankfurt, who become the first team to score five goals against Bayern in the first 60 minutes of a league game since Frankfurt themselves, in 1975.
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A stunned Thomas Tuchel said after the game that his side were punished by a Frankfurt team who were callous in front of goal.
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"We didn't defend consistently and were punished mercilessly today," Tuchel said.
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"That's why this result is very difficult to digest on the scoreboard. We deserved to lose. Not 5-1, but we deserved to lose. That is the bottom line."
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Leaders Bayer Leverkusen retain their three-point cushion and travel to third-place Stuttgart on Sunday on a weekend when six of the Bundesliga's top seven face each other.

Leipzig deal Dortmund hammer blow

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In a game contested between two sides in the chasing pack, Leipzig beat Dortmund in an absorbing contest at Signal IdunaPark.
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Dortmund were dealt an early blow with Mats Hummels' red card, which denied the visitors a penalty but they went on to take the lead in the 32nd minute through a Ramy Bensebaini own goal.
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Ten-man Dortmund clawed their way back into the contest through Niklas Süle's close-range finish on the stroke of half-time -but Leipzig's Austrian forward Christoph Baumgartner tapped in to put Leipzig back in front early in the second half.
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Yussuf Poulsen struck as the clock ticked into injury time to make it three goals and three points, keeping Leipzig fourth and opening a gap of four points to fifth-placed Dortmund, despite Niclas Füllkrug's late header briefly giving Dortmund hope.
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"These were important three points today. Very hard-earned. Really hard for the coach too. It's difficult to analyse emotionally," Marco Rose, formerly the coach of Dortmund, and now in charge of Leipzig, said.
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A despondent Dortmund coach Edin Terzic referenced the red card for Hummels as the game's turning point: "It's not easy to play against RB Leipzig, especially when you're outnumbered. You saw that we got off to a really good start, were very dominant... after the red card it wasa completely different game."
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Terzic acknowledged that Dortmund, who have only one win in their last six Bundesliga games and fallen off the pace in the top four race, are going through a rough spell.
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"It's a very difficult phase we're going through at the moment. It's not easy to answer similar questions on the microphone every three days."
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