"It was a silly mistake" – Neuer reflects on costly blunder against Augsburg

Manuel Neuer admitted he made a "silly mistake" after his early blunder handed Augsburg an immediate advantage against Bayern Munich.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Bayern Munich veteran Manuel Neuer's early blunder was the main talking point as the German champions were held to a 2-2 draw away to Augsburg on Saturday afternoon.

Just seconds after kick-off, the 40-year-old miscontrolled a pass from Luis Díaz and failed to clear the ball over Robin Fellhauer, who pounced on the mistake to put Augsburg ahead after around eight seconds, scoring the fastest goal in Bundesliga history.

Neuer didn't shy away from responsibility after the match, admitting that he should have made a better decision.

“It was a silly mistake by me. I had to bring the ball onto my left foot because two players were closing me down from the right. I should simply have made a different decision,” Neuer told reporters after the game.

“I first had to reflect, take a deep breath and, of course, I still hoped we could turn the game around. I think we had the chances to do so, but unfortunately, we failed to take them,” he added.

Neuer also came under scrutiny for his role in Augsburg's second goal, with Rodrigo Ribeiro restoring the hosts' lead in the 64th minute after the goalkeeper could only parry Calvin Brackelmann's effort into the striker's path.

However, the veteran was less willing to accept responsibility for the second goal, insisting that the shot was difficult to handle.

“I think I've already addressed the first situation, and I'll take full responsibility for that one. These things happen. But I was powerless to prevent the second goal,” Neuer told Sky.

“It was a powerful shot, a difficult ball that I couldn't hold on to. I pushed it away towards the side, and then we were back on the back foot, and he simply tapped it in,” he explained, according to SID.