Defending champions Bayern Munich resumed their Bundesliga campaign with a 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig on Friday night.
Bundesliga
Result: RB Leipzig 1-1 Bayern Munich
Date: 20 January 2023
Venue: Leipzig Arena
The Bavarians handed new signing, goalkeeper Yann Sommer his debut in place of the injured shot-stopper Manuel Neuer while Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry supported lone striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Bayern were precise in their build-up high up the pitch but they nearly went ahead on eight minutes from a piece of luck after Gnabry's cross took a deflection and canonned off the post, with goalkeeper Janis Blaswich stranded.
Leipzig restricted the visitors well, keeping them away from their box but Leon Goretzka found the back of the net for Bayern on the half-hour mark with a powerful header from Benjamin Pavard's cross but after a brief check by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the goal was chalked off for offside in the build-up.
However, Choupo-Moting eventually broke the deadlock for Julian Nagelsmann's charges just before the interval from a goal-kick, with a close-range range finish at the back post after a cross by Gnabry.
Marco Rose's men had a bright start in the second stanza as Marcel Halstenberg levelled matters seven minutes in after a pulled back header by Dominik Szoboszlai.
Bayern were committing numbers going forward after that as Leipzig looked to pick them up on counter-attacks and on 67 minutes the hosts brought speedy forward Timo Werner in place of Emil Forsberg for this very purpose.
In the same moment, Nagelsmann needed fresh legs in attack as Kingsley Coman replaced Musiala and Coman revived Bayern going forward, linking up well with Choupo-Moting.
But with Leipzig not giving much away, the visitors had a last throw of a dice in the dying minutes, as Thomas Muller came on for Gnabry in a change of shape going forward.
Bayern lacked the cutting edge in front of goal despite threatening, with the game on the edge in the dying minutes and could have gone either way, as the sides shared the spoils.
The Bavarians missed the chance to open a seven-point lead at the top of the table, as their lead extended to five points while the Red Bulls remained in third place, six points behind Bayern.
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