Neuer accepts responsibility for Bayern draw against Augsburg

Bayern Munich drew 2-2 with Augsburg on Saturday after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a costly error within the first 10 seconds of the match.

Neuer later described his early mistake as silly. He explained that he had to bring the ball onto his left foot because two Augsburg players were closing him down from the right, and that he should have made a different decision. 

At 40 years and 197 days old, Neuer became the seventh-oldest player in Bundesliga history, overtaking Jens Lehmann.

The visitors twice came from behind at the WWK Arena to salvage a point. Robin Fellhauer scored just 8.37 seconds in, dispossessing Neuer and rolling the ball into an unguarded net to set a new Bundesliga record for the fastest goal.

Rodrigo Ribeiro later extended Augsburg’s lead before Ismael Saibari and Nathaniel Brown struck for Bayern to restore parity.

The result left Bayern with 11 points from their first five Bundesliga matches. The last time they collected fewer points at this stage of a season was in 2010-11, when they had only eight. 

Despite the setback, the Bavarians remain unbeaten in their last 29 league games, a run comprising 21 wins and eight draws. 

They previously managed a longer unbeaten run away from home, recording 33 consecutive matches without defeat between 2012 and 2014.

Bayern couldn’t draw level on points with early leaders Borussia Dortmund, who drew 2-2 with Werder Bremen on Friday. 

Manager Vincent Kompany nevertheless expressed full confidence that his experienced goalkeeper would recover quickly from the costly opening mistake and continue to perform at the highest level.

Bayern turn their attention to the Champions League as they travel to Norway to face Viking on Tuesday 13th October.