Bayern held to draw at Union Berlin in Bundesliga after young goalkeeper's error
A mistake by young goalkeeper Jonas Urbig meant Bayern Munich dropped points for the second Bundesliga game in a row with a 1-1 draw at Union Berlin on Saturday.
Bayern seemed on course for victory when Leroy Sané scored in the 75th minute after Bayern had struggled to break through Union's deep defensive line, but Urbig's error eight minutes later proved costly.
Urbig came off his line to deal with a deflected cross which looped high into the air, but he could only palm it to Union striker Benedict Hollerbach, who hit it in low to level the score.
Bayern's lead in the Bundesliga over Bayer Leverkusen increased to nine points, but Leverkusen could cut the gap to six with a win Sunday over Stuttgart. Union is 13th.
“We're not happy with the result but it wasn't a bad performance,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said.
While Bayern has been strong in the Champions League, beating Leverkusen 5-0 over two legs to reach the quarterfinals, its Bundesliga form has dipped. The draw with Union follows a 3-2 loss last week against Bochum.
The 21-year-old Urbig played both of those games because first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Neuer tore a calf muscle when celebrating a goal in the first leg against Leverkusen last week.
Leipzig punishes wasteful Dortmund
Dortmund's disappointing Bundesliga season took another turn for the worse with plenty of missed chances in a 2-0 loss at Leipzig that left the club 11th in the 18-team league.
Three days after beating Lille to reach the Champions League quarterfinals, Dortmund looked a different team in a loss which dealt another blow to its hopes of qualifying for any European competition next year.
Xavi Simons made the difference for Leipzig, scoring on a rebound in the 18th minute and setting up Loïs Openda to volley in the second goal in the 48th.
Dortmund came alive after that and racked up 26 total shots in the game, but a mix of strong goalkeeping by Leipzig's Peter Gulacsi, poor finishing and bad luck — three shots hit the crossbar or post — prevented a comeback.
It was the fourth loss in six Bundesliga games since coach Niko Kovac took charge last month, and he could face more problems after midfielder Marcel Sabitzer went off with a potentially serious knee injury.
Leipzig moved up to fifth after its first Bundesliga win in more than a month and only its third victory in 11 league games since the new year.
Champions League-chasing Mainz clings on
Mainz earned a 2-2 draw with Freiburg despite a first-half red card but its efforts to qualify for the Champions League for the first time were still dented.
Third-place Mainz twice took the lead with goals from Jonathan Burkardt and Andreas Hanche-Olsen — and ended Freiburg's run of not having conceded in six games — but Freiburg leveled each time. Mainz had Dominik Kohr sent off just before halftime for a foul as the last defender.
Alassane Pléa's hat trick powered Borussia Moenchengladbach to a 4-2 win over Werder Bremen which boosted seventh-place Gladbach's push for European qualification.
Phillip Tietz scored the only goal as Augsburg beat Wolfsburg 1-0, moving above Dortmund to ninth.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer