Advantage Leverkusen as Bremen end 16-year wait for Bayern win

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Bremen defender Mitchell Weiser (2ndL) scored for his team on Sunday. AFP

Mitchell Weiser stunned his former club with the only goal as Werder Bremen defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 on Sunday, keeping Bayer Leverkusen seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

Bayern were last held scoreless in the league in February 2020, when former Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann's Leipzig recorded a 0-0 draw at the Allianz Arena.

Bremen's victory, their first over Bayern in any competition since 2008, broke a 27-game winless run against the German champions, which included 26 losses.

Leverkusen's 3-2 win at RB Leipzig on Saturday, with Xabi Alonso's men coming from behind twice and scoring the winner in injury time, put the pressure back on Bayern, who went into Sunday's game with two games in hand.

Bremen were unlucky to have a goal struck off by VAR in the first-half for a foul on Jamal Musiala but Weiser took matters into his own hands in the second period, gliding down the right wing and blasting into the net after 59 minutes.

Bayern pinned Bremen in their own box after the opener but failed to break through. Bremen travelled to Munich trying to overturn recent history, the visitors having not beaten Bayern in any competition in 16 years.

January 21, 2024

On that day, a teenage Mesut Ozil ran riot, scoring one goal and assisting in two more in a 5-2 victory during happier times for the four-time Bundesliga winners.

Bremen started strongly, Weiser forcing a fingertip save from Manuel Neuer midway through the first-half. Bremen's Justin Njinmah had the ball in the net after a lightning-fast counter attack, but the goal was struck off, with VAR finding a foul on Musiala at the other end of the pitch.

Bayern exited the pitch to a sprinkling of boos and whistles but the half-time break failed to revive the home side, with Bremen continuing to impress.

Weiser, who spent three years at Bayern after arriving as an 18-year-old before leaving on a free transfer in 2015, gave the visitors the lead in impressive syle, dancing down the right flank and unleashing a rocket into the top of the net.

Bremen's win consigned the defending champions to their second league loss of the season. Bayern can cut the gap at the top when they play their game in hand at home to Union Berlin on Wednesday.

Bremen's victory lifts them nine points clear of the relegation placings. Later on Sunday, Borussia Moenchengladbach host Augsburg.