Bayern fall to defeat in Mainz

FC Bayern were beaten 3-1 away at Mainz on Saturday. Sadio Mané had put Bayern in front in the first half but Mainz upped the ante after half-time and levelled through Ludovic Ajorque. Leandro Barreiro and Aaron Martín then scored for the on-form home side.

The Bavarians lined up with Yann Sommer in goal and Josip Stanišić, Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt in defence. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka anchored a midfield featuring João Cancelo, Thomas Müller, Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies, with Sadio Mané up front. Davies had to be replaced with a hamstring injury early in the game, Noussair Mazraoui taking over. Ryan Gravenberch, Mathys Tel, Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry came on for Kimmich, Müller, Musiala and Mané in the second half.

Mané on target

The 33,305 crowd in Mainz saw Bayern in the driving seat, but the visitors faced an early setback when Davies pulled up and had to go off. Müller saw an effort blocked before Bayern had the ball in the back of the net, only for the flag to go up for offside after Mané's chip over keeper Robin Zentner.

Kimmich made a block against Barreiro but Bayern took the lead when a Cancelo cross invited Mané to head home at the far post. Musiala miscued a header and Cancelo fired wide as the champions sought a second. Onisiwo slipped in the box after a promising counter and saw a shot blocked by Kimmich, as Bayern went into half-time a goal to the good.

Mainz turn it around

A Musiala shot was blocked and de Ligt headed over from a corner in a similar pattern after the restart. But Mainz levelled the scores after the hour mark when Munich failed to clear after a free-kick, Sommer parrying a Jae-sung Lee effort and Ajorque nodding in. Bayern forced a string of corners now but failed to make them count.

Onisiwo squared for Barreiro to beat Sommer as the hosts now went in front. The goal boosted the home side, as Stanišić was forced to make a block against Marcus Ingvartsen. Mainz then got a third when Martín found the far corner of the net from 20 yards. Bayern went looking for a reply but ran up in vain against Mainz's solid defence.

The result means Bayern have 58 points from 29 matches, two clear of Dortmund, who take on Eintracht Frankfurt later on Saturday. The German record champions will be back in action next Sunday when they entertain Hertha Berlin.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen