Joe Hart was left to curse his luck after a deflected last-minute strike condemned Manchester City to defeat at Bayern Munich.
England goalkeeper Hart had looked like earning City a creditable goalless draw in their Champions League Group E opener at the Allianz Arena with a string of outstanding saves.
But Bayern pressed to the end and snatched the victory their overall dominance probably deserved when former City defender Jerome Boateng’s shot from the edge of the box took a slight deflection off Mario Gotze and beat Hart.
Hart said: “We did okay and looked like we were going to get a result out of it, which would have been a good start to the group away against a good side.
“But it was an unfortunate deflection that ended up going in, and that killed us.
“I had a bit to do, but we defended well on the whole and had a few chances. It could have been the perfect performance and we come away with a a 1-0 win, but unfortunately we ended up with a loss.”
City had their moments, with the threatening Edin Dzeko testing Manuel Neuer and the impressive David Silva heading narrowly wide. Silva also had a good penalty appeal rejected.
But Bayern, despite the absence of stellar names such as Franck Ribery, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez, were as formidable as their reputation.
They created numerous opportunities for the likes of Thomas Muller, David Alaba, Robert Lewandowski and Gotze, but the best of them were saved by Hart.
It looked like being Hart’s night when he kept out a Boateng piledriver with a superb one-handed stop late on, only for his ex-colleague to have the last laugh moments later.
Yaya Toure’s performance in the City midfield attracted some criticism, with the Ivorian not his usual imposing self.
Toure also missed last weekend’s game at Arsenal after returning late from international duty, but assistant manager Ruben Cousillas denied he was unfit.
Cousillas, carrying out media duties with head coach Manuel Pellegrini serving a touchline ban, said: “He was absolutely fit and physically without problem.”
The agonising defeat means City are already playing catch-up in a group that also includes Serie A runners-up Roma, who opened their campaign with a 5-1 win over CSKA Moscow.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, however, expects City to prove serious rivals for the rest of the competition.
Guardiola said: “We created a lot of opportunities to score but it was not easy against them. We played with a lot of courage and we won and we earned it.
“We know how difficult this group is. We know it will not be decided until the last game, so to start with this victory is very important for us.”
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