Adding to Bayern Munich’s suffering, VfL Bochum defeated the Bavarian powerhouses 3-2 in the Bundesliga. This was a sharp contrast to the three previous head-to-head meetings, where Die Unabsteigbaren gave up 17 goals without replying.
Early on, Thomas Tuchel’s team appeared nervous and fragile in defense as Anthony Losilla glanced over the crossbar with his header. Unlike Die Roten, Bochum’s defense was unwavering, as they produced desperate saves to save headers from Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Kane. However, Bayern was not about to give Bochum another chance to tie the score, and they took the lead at the quarter-hour mark when Jamal Musiala managed to get enough space to get past Ivan Ordets and blast the ball past Manuel Riemann.
Due to fan complaints, there was soon a now customary delay, and Dayot Upamecano took Noussair Mazraoui’s position before the game began. But Bochum appeared to gain more from the disruption, as Losilla freed Takuma Asano and Musiala was thrown out of the game. To tie the score, the Japanese forward dashed forward and fired a precise shot into the lower corner.
Surprisingly, it took Die Unabsteigbaren just six more minutes to take the lead when Keven Schlotterbeck scored unopposed after Kevin Stöger’s corner kick. Leon Goretzka’s header into the side netting was the closest Bayern got to an equalizer before halftime, even with 14 minutes of additional time. That only raised hopes for Bochum to have an easy time after halftime, and they did, battling both before and after another break, wideman Christopher Antwi-Adjei tireless in his defensive efforts.
Just after the hour, Bayern attempted to find a way back into the match by bringing on Leroy Sané, but his fierce shot was blocked. However, matters worsened for the visitors when Upamecano was sent off in two straight games, rather than Bayern building on that. After he caught Schlotterbeck in the face inside the area, he was given a second yellow card. As a result, he gave up a penalty that Stöger scored even though Neuer got a hand on it.
After some excellent work from Mathys Tel, Kane slid the ball home late in the game to put Bayern eight points behind Bayer Leverkusen. However, a weak header was subsequently saved as Bayern lost for the third time in a row in all competitions for the first time since May 2015. The currently-ranked Bochum are unbeaten in eight games in the Ruhrstadion, dating back to November, despite the fact that many pundits picked them to finish last year.
