Three reasons why Hoffenheim beat Bayern Munich 2-1

A second-half brace from Armenian forward Sargis Adamyan proved pivotal as Hoffenheim confined Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich to their first league defeat since early February.

On that weekend, they had lost to Bayer Leverkusen, who currently sit fifth - but solely on goal difference - as just four points separate Germany's top ten sides after seven match days.

Robert Lewandowski continued his excellent goal-scoring form; now having netted 15 goals in all competitions this term. However, just four days after thumping Tottenham 7-2 in North London, Niko Kovac's men were unable to secure another domestic victory before the international break.

Without further ado, let's look at three reasons why Bayern succumbed to their first league defeat of the 2019/20 season:

#3 Wastefulness in front of goal

Bayern missed chances aplenty against Hoffenheim

After such a clinical display in midweek, it's understandable that Bayern wouldn't have been at their brilliant best in front of goal on this occasion. However, they registered 20 shots, which was more than double of Hoffenheim's eight over the 90 minutes.

The visitors had five on target, which was one more than the Bavarian giants, while utilizing their opportunities better to devastating effect. Serge Gnabry had his opener cruelly ruled out for offside in the build-up, before both he and Thiago Alcantara were denied by Oliver Baumann's timely double save a minute later.

Corentin Tolisso, Kingsley Coman and Philippe Coutinho all had efforts flying narrowly wide before the interval. So by the time Adamyan broke the deadlock - ten minutes after the restart - the hosts would have been right to question their profligacy in front of goal.

Lewandowski finally got on the score sheet after 73 minutes, converting Thomas Muller's delivery from close-range with a chance he simply couldn't miss, but it was more relief than jubilation when they leveled the scoring.

Gnabry came close late on, but Hoffenheim held firm to record a memorable win. This was only the second time Bayern have scored just one goal in a game this season.

#2 Manuel Neuer being beaten twice at his near post

Neuer endured a forgettable afternoon as Bayern lost their first league game of the campaign

Despite some questionable displays at times, Manuel Neuer has retained his status as one of the world's best goalkeepers, with the 33-year-old's presence undeniably a reliable, calming influence on the Bayern back line.

Although he was kept busy last time out against Spurs, Neuer will be frustrated with the way Hoffenheim scored both goals. The first didn't look good from his perspective, even though Jerome Boateng was back-pedaling and partially obscuring the German international's view as Adamyan took aim.

Shifting even half-a-step across to his right, as he did in this instance, proved crucial as it meant he was unable to recover in time to dive back quickly and palm the effort to safety.

Meanwhile, the winner was more of the same, this time with Hoffenheim countering down the left-hand side.

Adamyan took one touch to set himself, evading Niklas Sule, before sweeping goalwards with a static Boateng not close enough to block or affect his strike in any way.

This effort flew into the bottom corner, and despite Neuer's body position suggesting that he was prepared for a similar shot to the one previously conceded, he didn't fully extend his body quickly enough to respond with what could have been an excellent save.

Neuer made three saves, completed 80.8% of his passes and was otherwise solid, but in games that are defined by such fine margins, his role in both Hoffenheim goals will be rightly questioned.

#1 Hoffenheim's game plan executed to perfection

Hoffenheim players celebrate their second goal during a memorable win

Hoffenheim had only won one league game this season prior to kick-off, so you could excuse the limited optimism surrounding their chances of securing a positive result on this occasion.

However, they were ruthlessly clinical with their chances and made Bayern pay for their wasteful nature in the final third - soaking up pressure well and hitting their hosts on the counter-attack to devastating effect with intricate moves around the area.

For their first goal, Tolisso attempted to do too much in possession and relinquished it, owing to the pressure and an important interception from Sebastian Rudy in midfield. Dennis Geiger's clever pass was met by Adamyan, who squeezed home the opener at Neuer's near post.

Second-half substitute Havard Nordtveit pounced on Joshua Kimmich's lofted pass into Philippe Coutinho, won the ball and advanced up the pitch with runners in support. Robert Skov fizzed a low cross into Adamyan, who made no mistake from just inside the box.