Augsburg has climbed out of the Bundesliga relegation zone with a shocking 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich at the WWK Arena in the first game after the final international break of the year.

Augsburg took the lead in the first half thanks to a goal from Mads Pedersen and a thundering header from Andre Hahn. Augsburg fought on for a crucial victory despite Lewandowski’s virtually immediate response to Hahn’s goal two minutes later.

Augsburg moves up to 15th place as a consequence of their performance. Bayern, however, remains four points clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga table, despite the end of their four-game winning streak.

On Saturday afternoon, Dortmund will host Stuttgart. In the 23rd minute, Augsburg surprised Bayern by taking the lead despite Bayern’s possession domination. Lucas Hernandez cleared Iago’s dangerous cross into the box, which fell to Pedersen, who hit the bottom corner with his shot.

Their second goal came in a similar fashion 15 minutes later as Bayern failed to create any dangerous opportunities. Marcel Sabitzer’s poor giveaway in Bayern’s half was capitalised on as Iago’s cross from the left flank was headed into the bottom corner by Hahn.

Bayern replied almost instantly through Lewandowski who grabbed his 22nd career goal against Augsburg one minute later.

Leon Goretzka’s cross was flicked on by Thomas Muller at the near post to the Poland international, who clinically volleyed into the bottom corner to get the champions back into an absorbing contest.

A solid Augsburg defence kept Bayern flat in the second half, limiting them only half-chances. In the 50th minute, Lewandowski hit the crossbar with a close-range effort, and Goretzka followed suit moments later.

The best chances for Bayern to equalise came in the closing ten minutes after substitute Alphonso Davies had a drove shot roll agonisingly beyond the post. Rafal Gikiewicz made a good save on Lewandowski’s shot within the Augsburg box, but Davies sent the rebound over the bar.

Jamal Musiala’s looping attempt was pushed away by Gikiwicz before Muller’s rebound bounced wide as Augsburg sat even deeper. Bayern kept pressing, but Augsburg held on for one of the most historic Bundesliga victories in club history.

Bayern Munich were just lacklustre against a defensively solid Augsburg team, and they squandered an opportunity to improve their Bundesliga leading advantage.

It appeared as if the bulk of Bayern’s players expected the victory to simply fall on their laps, and their seeming belief that having Robert Lewandowski upfront to provide the goals will bring victories can lead to complacency as it looked often during the fixture.

Borussia Dortmund will face Stuttgart on Saturday, knowing that the game is now more important than ever for the early title challenge and an opportunity to close the gap at the top of the table to just one single point after matchday 12.

TodayNG