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Schweinsteiger walks away as Gladbach players celebrate the first goal on Friday at the Allianz Arena
Bayern Munich fell shy of their own record for most points halfway through the season when they failed to beat Borrusia Monchengladbach at the Allianz Arena on Friday evening.
Bayern were denied their 14th win of the season by some inspired goal-keeping by Gladbach stalwart Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Gladbach took the lead in the 21st minute when Marx converted from the spot after Boateng conceded the penalty for handling inside the box. Bayern restored parity in the 59th minute through first half substitute Shaqiri. The draw meant Bayern could not better their record set in the 2005-06 season. Despite the draw, Bayern head into the winter break as the unofficial ‘Fall Champions’ with 42 points.
Friday evening at the Allianz Arena also marked the 2nd week of the 12/12 protests in Bundesliga. Fans remained silent for the first 12 minutes 12 seconds before bursting into life. Fans were seen waving banner with messages such as “We don’t want tennis crowd” and “Football lives through its fans”.
12/12 Protest banner at the Allianz Arena on Friday
The protests started after the German Football League (DFL) meeting on 12th Dec (12/12), which proposed extra security checks for fans entering the stadiums around Germany. The DFL’s proposal includes frisking at high risk games, tougher sanctions for the use of pyrotechnics and seating-only areas for away fans. The DFL took this initiative following a police report last month which said the 2011/12 season had the highest number of reported criminal proceedings in 12 years; almost double the amount of injured fans and more than 20 percent rise in police work hours from the previous seasons. Widespread crowd unrest before October’s Ruhr valley derby between Dortmund and Schalke 04 and more violence at the Hanover 96 vs Dynamo Dresden game in the German Cup few days later have only strengthened DFB’s stance. The 36 professional clubs in Germany have agreed to the proposal to bolster stadium security but the fans are pressing for major revisions.
Schalke ultras during the match against Frankfurt. The start of the 2nd half was delayed due to crowd unrest.
