BATE earns famous victory over Bayern

MINSK - Reuters

BATE Borisov’s Yegor Filipenko (R) and Marko Simic celebrate a goal during the team’s shocking 3-1 win over Bayern. REUTERS photo

BATE Borisov stunned four-time European champions Bayern Munich 3-1 in a famous win for the Belarus titleholder whose surprise start to Champions League Group F continued on Oct. 2 with a second victory in two games.

BATE, who beat Lille by the same score in its opener, went ahead with a 23rd minute strike from Aleksandr Pavlov and added late goals through Vitali Rodionov and Renan Bressan as Bayern’s nine-game winning streak in all competitions ended.

Bayern’s Franck Ribery briefly cut the deficit in stoppage time but they could not stop fans celebrating wildly at the Dinamo stadium.

The result leaves the group wide open with BATE top on six points after their first ever home win in the competition and Bayern on three with Valencia, who beat Lille 2-0.

“It was a difficult match but we fought until the end,” said BATE’s Aleksandr Hleb. “This is a sensational result for us. We will celebrate but we need to keep working hard.

“Bayern are still favorites in our group. We are taking one game at a time,” the former Barcelona player added.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said: “We have to give credit to our opponents. They are a very well organized team, especially in defense, and they showed it again tonight.”