MUNICH: Holders Bayer Leverkusen scored against the run of play through Nathan Tella in the second half to beat 10-man hosts Bayern Munich 1-0 on Tuesday and advance to the German Cup quarter-finals.

It was the first defeat this season in the league or domestic Cup for Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who had keeper Manuel Neuer sent off with a straight red card in the 17th minute, the first dismissal in the 38-year-old’s long career.

The defeat means the Bavarians have now failed to get past the quarter-final stage in the German Cup since they last won the competition in 2020.

Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso has won all nine of his German Cup matches as a coach while his team has now gone five matches against Bayern without defeat.

“It was not our best game with the ball or even with an extra man but we applied our plan,” said Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah.

“It was not immediately easy to adapt to having an extra man. We did not use it in the first half. We were too hectic and wanted to score quickly. We did not do it perfectly today but we were effective and then Nathan headed in the winner.”

Both teams were missing their leading strikers with Leverkusen without Victor Boniface and Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane sidelined for weeks after picking up an injury in Bayern’s draw at Borussia Dortmund last week.

In a pulsating start both sides battled for control until Bayern’s Neuer bodychecked Jeremie Frimpong outside the box to get his marching orders with a straight red card.

“I tried to get to the ball but didn’t get there in time,” Neuer said. “I was hoping he would be in an offside position. I can’t change it now. It was a mistake and I have to accept it.”

Leroy Sane had to be sacrificed to make way for reserve keeper Daniel Peretz but they still had the better chances in the first half through Kingsley Coman, Konrad Laimer and Leon Goretzka.

Leverkusen, however, struck against the run of play in the 69th minute when Tella, who had come on eight minutes earlier, headed in a superb Alex Grimaldo cross.

Bayern struggled to carve out chances until Michael Olise’s curled effort in stoppage time as Leverkusen held on to their slim lead to keep their German Cup title defence on track.

Elsewhere, a stoppage-time goal from Anthony Jung took Werder Bremen to the quarters with a 1-0 win over Darmstadt.

VfB Stuttgart are also through after a 3-0 win at Regensburg, while Freiburg were knocked out by a 3-1 loss at Arminia Bielefeld.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2024