Kovac slams Bayern defence after dramatic draw

Bayern Munich threw away a two-goal lead in the final 13 minutes against Fortuna Dusseldorf, much to the dismay of boss Niko Kovac.

Published : Nov 25, 2018 06:44 IST

Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac
Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac
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Bayern Munich head coach Niko Kovac

Under-fire Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac slammed his side's defending in its dramatic 3-3 Bundesliga draw with Fortuna Dusseldorf at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

Niklas Sule and Thomas Muller (2) had given the struggling Bavarian giant a 3-1 lead, but two goals in the last 13 minutes from Dodi Lukebakio – his second in the third minute of stoppage time completing a superb hat-trick – rescued a point for the visitor.

Despite its two-goal advantage, Bayern threw bodies forward in the closing stages, twice allowing Lukebakio plenty of space to run into and coolly finish past an exposed Manuel Neuer.

Kovac was less than impressed with his side's defending and acknowledged it deserved to be punished.

"You can imagine how I feel internally," he told a media conference.

"If you have the game under control and lead, then I am anything but happy – I am very angry. 

"I just cannot understand that we did not realise the position we were in. 

"But far worse is the way we defended all three goals conceded. It does not matter if you are playing against a struggling side or Champions League team, these mistakes will be punished."

The draw, coupled with Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 win over Mainz, means Bayern is now nine points behind the league leader. 

Goalkeeper Neuer insists Bayern's under-performing players will leave no stone unturned in a bid to bridge that gap.

"That should not happen to us," he said.

"We are bitterly disappointed with ourselves, but we have to live with that. We always question ourselves and always want to do our best. We are our harshest critics."

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