LEWA SCORES AS BAYERN DRAW

Moenchengladbach (Germany), Aug. 14:

Robert Lewandowski equalised as defending champions Bayern Munich were held to a 1-1 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach in a hard-fought opening game of the new Bundesliga season on Friday.

Gladbach deservedly took the lead when French striker Alassane Plea fired past Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with just ten minutes gone.

Lewandowski levelled just before the break from a corner, but both sides wasted second-half chances to grab the winner.

Only superb saves from home goalkeeper Yann Sommer repeatedly denied Lewandowski and the Bayern attack.

At the other end, Gladbach substitute forward Marcus Thuram failed to connect with the goal at his mercy and later saw his appeals for a clear penalty waved away by the referee.

Gladbach captain Lars Stindl hailed Sommer’s “world-class” performance.

Bayern’s new head coach Julian Nagelsmann is still waiting for his first victory after three defeats and a draw in preseason friendlies.

The 34-year-old is under pressure to deliver a 10th straight Bundesliga title for Bayern in his first season.

LORIENT UPSET

MONACO

In France, Lorient, who just escaped relegation last season, upset visiting Monaco 1-0 as striker Terem Moffi converted a penalty he had won.

Lorient made the most of opening the fixtures on the second weekend of the season by jumping to the top of the table with four points. Moffi was brought down by Ismail Jakobs after 31 minutes and took the penalty to score. Moffi was Lorient’s top scorer last season with 14 goals. —