BERLIN: Bayern Munich were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim on Saturday as the runaway Bundesliga leaders had three goals disallowed and also hit the post.
“Luck wasn’t on our side,” bemoaned captain Manuel Neuer.
Bayern have now drawn their last two league games.
Christoph Baumgartner gave Hoffenheim a deserved lead before Robert Lewandowski levelled on the stroke of half-time in Sinsheim with a record-equalling 17th away goal this season.
It was a tough afternoon for Bayern who had two goals by Thomas Mueller and one by Lewandowski ruled out before Serge Gnabry struck the post.
“We had a few more chances and at the end it was disappointing not to travel home with three points,” admitted Neuer.
Bayern are ten points clear in the Bundesliga, but second-placed Dortmund, who are home to Bielefeld on Sunday, have two games in hand.
It was a frustrating return to Sinsheim for Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann, who spent nine years with Hoffenheim, three as head coach.
“I am pleased with the overall performance, especially as we had goals ruled offside which were marginal, even if we only took a point,” said Nagelsmann.
Bayern had lost three of their five previous away matches against Hoffenheim and there was a cup match atmosphere among the sold-out home crowd hoping for another upset.
The hosts landed the first blow when striker Andrej Kramaric fired a pass to the far post where Baumgartner was waiting to drive past Neuer with half an hour played.
The Germany captain had hoped to set a new Bundesliga record of 311 victories, but Neuer will have to wait at least another week.
Lewandowski struck before half-time when he powered in Bayern’s equalizer to claim his 29th league goal this season.
It was end to end stuff in the second half, which opened with Lewandowski’s disallowed goal, then Gnabry beat the defense, but hit the post.
Mueller had his head in his hands when his shot was scrambled off the line.
At the other end, Neuer denied Hoffenheim a late winner with a superb save at close range to block a shot by Jacob Bruun Larsen.
Freiburg climbed back into the Champions League places despite throwing away a two-goal lead before defender Nico Schlotterbeck sealed a 3-2 win at Wolfsburg.
Stuttgart snatched a valuable point in the relegation battle as Sasa Kalajdzic’s 90th minute equalizer sealed a 1-1 draw at Union Berlin.
Stuttgart climbed to third from bottom, one place ahead of Hertha Berlin who later hunt their first win of 2022 at Moenchengladbach.
An outbreak of 20 Covid cases at Mainz meant their away game at Augsburg on Saturday was postponed.
Bayern drop more points after draw at Hoffenheim
https://arab.news/b9wdy
Bayern drop more points after draw at Hoffenheim
- "Luck wasn't on our side," bemoaned captain Manuel Neuer
- Bayern have now drawn their last two league games
Trump said Iran ‘welcome to compete’ in World Cup, says Infantino
US President Donald Trump has said that Iran is “welcome” to participate at the upcoming World Cup in North America, despite the ongoing Middle East war, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday.
The war, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, has thrown into doubt Iran’s participation at this summer’s men’s football World Cup, jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
During a meeting to discuss preparations for the competition, “we also spoke about the current situation in Iran,” Infantino, the head of world football’s governing body, wrote on Instagram.
“During the discussions, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” he wrote.
The comments marked the first time that Infantino, who in December created a FIFA peace prize and awarded it to Trump, has acknowledged the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Trump’s remarks to Infantino are a stark contrast to his comments to Politico last week.
Trump told Politico: “I really don’t care” if Iran play at the World Cup.
FIFA’s president has grown close to Trump since he returned to the White House, even attending his inauguration.
Asylum claims
Iran’s federation football chief on Tuesday cast doubt on his team’s participation in the sporting extravaganza, following the defection of several women footballers from the Islamic republic during the Asian Cup in Australia.
“If the World Cup is like this, who in their right mind would send their national team to a place like this?” Mehdi Taj asked on Iranian state television.
While the event is spread out across three countries, Iran are scheduled to play all three group games in the United States, two in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.
Should Iran withdraw from the sport’s quadrennial showpiece, it would be the first time a country did that since France and India pulled out of the 1950 finals in Brazil.
On Tuesday, at the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, some players from Iran’s team claimed asylum after they came under fire from state television for not singing the country’s national anthem before one match.
Five players, including captain Zahra Ghanbari, slipped away from the team hotel under the cover of darkness to claim sanctuary from Australian officials, the Australian government announced.
At least two more team members applied to stay later in the day, according to local media.
However, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Wednesday that one of them had subsequently changed her mind.
Burke said in parliament on Wednesday that he had since been advised that one of the group “had spoken to some of the team mates that left and changed their mind.”
“She had been advised by her team mates and encouraged to contact the Iranian embassy,” he said.
“As a result of that, it meant the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was.”
The remaining players have been moved from a safe house to another location, he said.
