Kovac sulks as Bayern suffer defeat
BERLIN: Niko Kovac conceded his Bayern Munich stars struggled to come down from the euphoria of their midweek demolition of Tottenham after suffering their first defeat of the season on Saturday.
Bayern crashed to a first home loss in the Bundesliga for almost a year with a 2-1 defeat by Hoffenheim, just four days after thrashing Tottenham 7-2 in the Champions League.
Bayern kept first place in the table only on goal difference ahead of RB Leipzig, Freiburg, Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen, with the top-five teams all on 14 points.
However Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are sixth, can usurp Bayern and finish the weekend top if they beat Augsburg at home on Sunday.
“Yes, it probably was,” Kovac admitted when asked if the defeat was down to Bayern’s mentality.
“The head controls a lot. We needed to be more energetic, especially in the first half.
“We should have played better, I expected more determination.
“We didn’t give as good an account of ourselves as we did in London, now we have to digest and process this defeat.”
Second-half efforts by striker Sargis Adamyan sealed a first-ever win at Bayern for Hoffenheim, with Robert Lewandowski’s 11th goal of the season not enough for the hosts.
The Poland star has scored in each of the first seven league games this season and struck 15 times in all competitions.
However the match belonged to Armenia international Adamyan, who was playing regional football two years ago and cost Hoffenheim just €1.5 million from Jahn Regensberg in May.
He swept home early in the second half after ex-Bayern midfielder Sebastian Rudy robbed possession off Corentin Tolisso.
After Lewandowski’s equaliser,
Adamyan got the better of Bayern defender Jerome Boateng for the winning goal 11 minutes from time, threading the ball through the centre-back’s legs.
Schalke stayed fourth after blowing the chance to go two points clear as Germany defender Jonas Hector grabbed a 91st-minute equaliser for Cologne in a 1-1 draw.
Hector’s header just before the final whistle cancelled out Suat Serdar’s second-half goal for the Royal Blues in Gelsenkirchen.
Leverkusen and Leipzig are both also on 14 points following their 1-1 draw.
Freiburg sit joint second with Leipzig after drawing 2-2 at home with Borussia Dortmund.