Nine-man Bayern cling on for 1-1 draw at Leverkusen after red cards and VAR chaos
Bayern Munich finished with nine players on the pitch at the BayArena on Saturday, but Bayer Leverkusen could not find a way through as the Bundesliga leaders escaped with a 1-1 draw.
Garcia strikes early before Jackson sees red
Leverkusen took the lead inside six minutes. Montrell Culbreath robbed Luis Diaz deep in midfield and launched a quick counter that ended with Aleix Garcia firing a powerful shot past Sven Ulreich, the ball taking a deflection off Jonathan Tah on the way in.
Bayern pressed hard for an equaliser but their task got significantly harder in the 42nd minute. Jackson, starting in place of Harry Kane, was shown a straight red card for a reckless high challenge on Martin Terrier. The Senegalese striker had offered little before that, and his early exit forced Vincent Kompany into a quick rethink.
Diaz equalises then gets himself sent off
Down to ten men for the whole second half, Bayern somehow found a way back. Leverkusen squandered the advantage, with Malik Tillman and Patrik Schick both failing to convert one-on-one chances before the hour. Kane came off the bench and almost made an instant impact, only for his goal to be ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up.
Diaz made it 1-1 in the 69th minute, slotting in Michael Olise's pass with a composed finish. But the Colombian then picked up two yellow cards in the space of ten minutes, the second for simulation in the 84th minute, leaving Bayern down to nine.
Hofmann's late winner ruled out
The BayArena erupted when Jonas Hofmann's deflected effort looped into the far corner deep in stoppage time. The celebrations were short-lived. A VAR review found the most marginal of offside calls and the goal was chalked off. Tah had also earlier seen a first-half effort disallowed for handball, meaning three goals in total were wiped out by the video assistant.
Ibrahim Maza went close in the 96th minute but Ulreich gathered his shot before the Algerian-German could tap in the rebound.
What it means for the title race
Bayern stay top on 67 points but their lead is now nine after Borussia Dortmund beat Augsburg 2-0 earlier in the day. Leverkusen will feel they left two points on the table. Bayern, meanwhile, have now recovered 19 points from losing positions in the Bundesliga this season, more than any other side. They keep getting away with it.
