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Bayern surrender two-goal lead as post-Ancelotti era begins

Bayern Munich again surrendered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Hertha Berlin on Sunday in their first match since Carlo Ancelotti's shock sacking as the German giants slipped five points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern Munich’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski (C) and Berlin’s German midfielder Mitchell Weiser (L) vie for the ball during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Hertha Berlin and FC Bayern Munich in Berlin, on October 1, 2017. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP

Bayern Munich again surrendered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw at Hertha Berlin on Sunday in their first match since Carlo Ancelotti’s shock sacking as the German giants slipped five points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.

With Willy Sagnol in temporary charge after Ancelotti’s dismissal on Thursday, Bayern went 2-0 up at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium with goals by Mats Hummels and Robert Lewandowski.

But Berlin roared back with two goals inside five minutes by Ondrej Duda and Salomon Kalou to share the points which leaves Bayern second in the table.

This is the second league game in a row where Bayern have thrown away a two-goal lead after being held 2-2 at home to Wolfsburg ten days ago.

Ancelotti was dismissed after 15 months in the wake of Bayern’s 3-0 drubbing at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Sagnol is caretaker coach, but Hoffenheim’s 30-year-old boss Julian Nagelsmann and ex-Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel are amongst the favourites to take charge.

Sagnol responded to Ancelotti’s sacking by starting forwards Thomas Mueller, Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Lewandowski.

The quartet had all criticised the club in recent weeks which played a role in undermining Ancelotti’s authority.

Bayern made a bright start when Hummels headed Munich ahead on 10 minutes.

The video assistant referee denied Hertha a penalty when the replay showed Javi Martinez had not brought down Vladimír Darida in the area with a quarter of an hour gone.

It was 1-0 at the break, but the game burst into life early in the second-half.

Lewandowski fired home on 49 minutes after robbing Hertha defender Niklas Stark.

However, Berlin responded with two goals in five minutes.

Japan’s Genki Haraguchi beat Robben, Hummels and Joshua Kimmich before firing in a pass which Duda fired home on 51 minutes.

With Bayern in disarray, Kalou scored from eight metres out to equalise on 56 minutes.

Hoffenheim crash

Earlier, Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim crashed to their first Bundesliga defeat of the season with a shock 3-2 loss at strugglers Freiburg.

The defeat saw Hoffenheim drop to third, but level with Bayern on 14 points.

Dortmund ground out a 2-1 win at Augsburg on Saturday even though star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang squandered a second-half penalty.

In Freiburg, the game against Hoffenheim got off to a bang with all three first-half goals coming in four crazy minutes.

Teenager Robin Hack scored just 14 minutes into his senior debut, but Freiburg responded immediately when striker Florian Niederlechner equalised a minute later.

The hosts took the lead on 18 minutes when Turkey international defender Caglar Soyuncu headed home from a corner.

The match finished with two goals in the dying stages as Freiburg sealed their first win of the season when Pascal Stenzel scored on 87 minutes.

Freiburg midfielder Julian Schuster turned the ball into his own net on 92 minutes, but the hosts held on.

The win lifts Freiburg out of the relegation zone, at the expense of Hamburg, who were held to a goalless draw at home by Werder Bremen on Saturday.

The goalless draw in the north German derby left both teams in the relegation places.

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