August 13, (THEWILL) –Â The tough start of Julian Nagelsmann as Bayern Munich manager, which was obvious in four pre-season games, did not get any easier with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach in the first match of the 2021-22 Bundesliga season.
Monchengladbach’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer was hell-bent on frustrating the champions all evening but for the 42nd minute goal of record-equalling frontman Robert Lewandoski, whose equaliser eased the pressure on the manager’s shoulders.
With the exit of sextuple-winning coach Hansi Flick, Nagelsmann joined Bayern from RB Leipzig but has been unable to earn a win since. He will largely be pleased with the overall dominance exerted by Bayern but will be getting as impatient as a cross-section of fans already are for the victories they are used to.
As Bayern had looked recently, they began on a shaky note and Monchengladbach took advantage to open the scoring in the 10th minute. Christoph Kramer picked out Lars Stindl and the Gladbach skipper nudged his throughball past Bayern debutant Dayot Upamecano to Alassane Plea, who slammed a shot past Manuel Neuer.
It was then up to Lewandowski, who had previously been thwarted three times by Sommer already, to level matters when he volleyed home the equaliser. The goal which continues his scoring appearances from last season, brought his unbroken tally to 11 and equalled his own longest Bundesliga scoring streak.
Lewandoski could have scored more with better presentable chances in the second half but Sommer had taken it as a personal objective to keep it tied at 1-1 by not letting any other goal go past his post. He also denied Alphonso Davies a near-certain goal and stuck out a foot to prevent another Lewandowski attempt.
At the other end, Monchengladbach had the opportunity to get their one-goal cushion back. Marcus Thuram had that chance 13 minutes from time but he only got the faintest of touches on Stefan Lainer’s pass across the face of goal and could not direct it in.
In his unsettling debut, Upamecano was lucky to avoid conceding two late penalties for clumsy collisions with Thuram.
In the end, the referee blew the whistle to see Bayern return home with one point for their efforts and Lewandoski ready to continue exactly as he finished the last season, already setting records.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
