On Saturday afternoon, FC Bayern faced FC Augsburg on the road in the Bundesliga. The goal was clear: to secure their fourth win in their fifth league game.
The record champions traveled to Augsburg as the favorites and, following BVB’s draw on Friday night, had the chance to jump to first place in the standings.
Naturally, they wanted to capitalize on that opportunity—against the very team that had handed FC Bayern its last league loss. Bayern didn’t suffer a loss, but Augsburg fought back to earn a 2-2 draw.
Augsburg shocks Bayern early
Compared to the match against FC Union before the international break, there was only one change to the starting lineup: Ismael Saibari came into the game for the injured Jamal Musiala. Konrad Laimer was absent because he had just become a father.
The match got off to the worst possible start for Bayern. Right in the first minute, Manuel Neuer made a technical error, which Augsburg capitalized on immediately. Robin Fellhauer scored the 1-0 goal after less than nine seconds.
After that, the match initially became a relatively tough-fought affair. Bayern needed time to find their rhythm. They had their first shots on goal, but these weren’t particularly dangerous. Much of the play was disjointed due to too many technical errors in the record champions’ game. Juma Bah could have even extended Augsburg’s lead following a corner kick just over 35 minutes into the match.
It wasn’t until shortly before halftime that the record champions gradually picked up the pace. Harry Kane, lurking at the far post, hit the crossbar, and then it was halftime.
Bayern Showed a Clear Improvement
After the restart, FC Bayern looked much better. The pressure increased, and their control improved. First, Luis Diaz scored with a bicycle kick, capitalizing on a mistake by Finn Dahmen. But the VAR intervened, and the goal was disallowed due to an offside call.
That didn’t faze Bayern for long, though. After a beautiful pass from Kane, Ismael Saibari got on the end of the ball, controlled it perfectly, and fired it into the left corner. Bayern was now stepping on the gas, but Augsburg was able to counterattack. Manuel Neuer failed to properly block a shot by Brackelmann, allowing Rodrigo Riberio to score the 2-1 goal for Augsburg.
Now it was once again a Herculean task for FCB against a very tenacious opponent. Substitute Gnabry scored to make it 2–2, but Bayern conceded another goal shortly after. In the 81st minute, however, the moment finally arrived: FC Bayern equalized through Nathaniel Brown. He was beautifully set up by Kane and was on hand at the far post.
The final phase of the game began, and Bayern pressed hard for a third goal. Olise had a chance, but Karl couldn’t get his follow-up shot on target after a save by Dahmen. Things got hectic once again in stoppage time, but the score remained 2–2.