Robert Lewandowski opened his account for the season as defending champions Bayern Munich were held to a 1-1 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach in a hard-fought first game of the new Bundesliga. "It wasn't perfect football from us," Lewandowski said afterwards. "We made a lot of mistakes, but the first game is over, now we can look ahead." Gladbach deservedly took the lead when French striker Alassane Plea fired past Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with ten minutes gone. Lewandowski levelled just before the break from a corner, but both sides wasted second-half chances to grab the winner. Only superb saves from home goalkeeper Yann Sommer repeatedly denied Lewandowski and the Bayern attack. At the other end, Gladbach substitute forward Marcus Thuram failed to connect with the goal at his mercy and later saw his appeals for a clear penalty waved away by the referee. "There were fireworks from us in the first quarter of an hour," said Gladbach captain Lars Stindl. Bayern's new coach Julian Nagelsmann is still waiting for his first victory after three defeats and a draw in pre-season friendlies. The 34-year-old is under pressure to deliver a tenth straight Bundesliga title for Bayern in his first season. "We have to live with the point, both sides had chances, it was a pretty crazy game for the fans to watch, not so easy for the coaches," Nagelsmann said. Borussia Park was a third full as Bundesliga clubs welcome back supporters on the opening weekend of the season.
