Bayern Munich suffer rare home defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach

Posted Monday, August 08, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Jupp Heynckes makes a losing return as coach
• Win is Mönchengladbach's second at Bayern

Bayern Munich's Thomas Müller, right, has his celebrations cut short after this goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach was disallowed.

Bayern Munich slumped to a shock home defeat by Borussia Mönchengladbach in their opening Bundesliga match on Sunday following a blunder by their two most expensive new signings.

Igor de Camargo scored the only goal in the 62nd minute for Mönchengladbach after a terrible mix-up between the Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Jérôme Boateng.

Neuer, signed from Schalke 04 amid protests from a group of Bayern fans angry at the purchase of a former rival, rushed out to clear Roel Brouwers's long ball forward and the former Manchester City defender Boateng left it for him.

The hesitation between the two Bayern players allowed the Brazilian-born Belgian international De Camargo to nip in and head the ball over the goalkeeper from the edge of the area to give Mönchengladbach, who escaped relegation by two points last season, only their second win away to Bayern in Bundesliga history. The first came in October 1995.

"Gladbach were very well-organised. They built a spider's web in which we always got caught," said the Bayern coach, Jupp Heynckes, starting his third stint in charge of the Bavarians. "The goal came from nowhere, it was a misunderstanding between Boateng and Neuer."

Bayern, who fired Louis van Gaal and replaced him with Heynckes in their bid to improve on last season's disappointing third place, dominated the first half without creating any real chances.

The best opening fell to Mönchengladbach when Neuer did well to tip over a cheeky chip from the Venezuela midfielder Juan Arango.

Mario Gomez headed against the post after the interval. The Bavarians started with Arjen Robben and brought on Franck Ribéry after an hour, with their two top players recovered from pre-season injuries.

After falling behind, Bayern threw everyone forward and Thomas Müller had a goal disallowed for offside but they looked toothless in attack.

Last season's runners-up, Bayer Leverkusen, also paid for lapses at the back as they lost 2-0 at Mainz.

Leverkusen fell behind after 32 minutes following a dreadful mistake by Fabian Giefer, whose miscued clearance went straight to Sami Allagui who rifled home. Four minutes from time, Omer Toprak turned the ball into his own net as he lunged to intercept Marco Caligiuri's centre.