Gladbach beats Bayern 2-1 to stay top of Bundesliga

Surprise Bundesliga leader Borussia Mönchengladbach showed it's a serious title contender by beating Bayern Munich 2-1 on Saturday with a last-gasp penalty.

Left-back Ramy Bensebaini scored both goals for Gladbach, which last won the title in 1977. Bensebaini headed in a corner to draw Gladbach level after Ivan Perisic's volley for Bayern, and then scored the decisive penalty in added time.

"That shows why we're rightly up there," Gladbach coach Marco Rose said. "We tried until the 90th minute to show what's made us stand out in the last few weeks and months, and we got the penalty."

After scoring the opener, it was as if "we forgot how to play football somehow," said Bayern's interim coach Hansi Flick.

The seven-time defending champion is now down in seventh after losing back-toback Bundesliga games for the first time in 14 months.

Gladbach leads the league by a point ahead of Leipzig, which beat Hoffenheim 3-1 thanks to two goals from Timo Werner. Jadon Sancho scored twice as Dortmund thrashed Fortuna Düsseldorf 5-0.

BAYERN BEATEN AGAIN

Another week, another 2-1 defeat and yet more missed opportunities for Bayern.

Just as in last week's loss to Bayer Leverkusen by the same score, Bayern had a string of great chances — 15 shots in the first half alone — but a mix of poor finishes and good goalkeeping denied the Munich team.

Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer trapped an effort by Joshua Kimmich on the line, and Robert Lewandowski twice flashed shots just wide of the post.

After that frustration, Bayern scored with its first shot of the second half, a sweetly hit volley by substitute Ivan Perisic into the topleft corner from the edge of the box.

That sparked Gladbach into life. The hosts have been strong at set pieces this season and showed it again when Bensebaini lost his marker to head in the corner in the 60th.

Bayern pushed up to chase the win in stoppage time and was caught out by a Gladbach counter. Martinez launched into a desperate slide to stop Marcus Thuram reaching a loose ball and brought him down, giving away a penalty and earning a red card.

Bayern's interim coach Hansi Flick started the day with a chance to go within a point of Gladbach, but now finds himself seven points adrift of the top. "The results don't match" the chances Bayern created, Flick said.

Bayern substituted Corentin Tolisso and Jerome Boateng with suspected injuries, which could complicate selection ahead of Wednesday's game against Tottenham in the Champions League.