Bayern produce huge second-half comeback to beat Mainz

FC Bayern were three goals down at half-time but turned the tide to beat Mainz 4-3 in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Dominik Kohr, Paul Nebel and Sheraldo Becker handed Mainz a comfortable half-time lead, but Bayern mounted a brilliant comeback, with Nicolas Jackson and Michael Olise finding the net before Jamal Musiala levelled the scores and Harry Kane completed the turnaround.

Vincent Kompany made eight changes to the XI that saw off Bayer Leverkusen in Wednesday’s DFB Cup semi-final. It meant Bayern started with Jonas Urbig in goal and Konrad Laimer, Minjae Kim, Hiroki Ito and Alphonso Davies in a back four. Aleksandar Pavlović and Bara Ndiaye anchored a midfield featuring Raphaël Guerreiro, Leon Goretzka and Luis Díaz, with Jackson up front. Kane and Olise took over from Pavlović and Díaz at half-time, with Josip Stanišić, Musiala and Jonathan Tah coming on for Davies, Guerreiro and Ndiaye in the second half.

Trailing by three

Bayern dominated possession, but Mainz had the better chances in the first half. Guerreiro flicked a cross wide before Ito only just beat Becker to a pass, but the home side took the lead from that corner, which was only cleared as far as Sano, who crossed for Kohr to volley past Urbig.

The Bayern goalkeeper denied Phillipp Mwene, Becker and Nadiem Amiri before parrying against the latter, with Nebel on hand to mop up the rebound. Davies hit the side-netting, but Mainz made it three on the stroke of half-time, Urbig tipping Amiri’s powerful shot onto the bar, with Becker tapping in as the ball dropped.

Remarkable fightback

Munich were rejuvenated after the restart and the introduction of Kane and Olise, although Becker soon called Urbig into action. Jackson saw an effort saved, but Laimer’s cross invited the unmarked forward to turn home minutes later. Mainz keeper Daniel Batz denied Jackson and Musiala fired wide before Olise cut in from the right and fired a curler into the top left corner of the net to make it 3-2.

Bayern levelled the scores when Musiala capitalised on a mix-up in the box and netted from close range before Kane rounded off an impressive turnaround, slotting home after Batz parried against Musiala. Munich ran down the clock now and sealed three points.

The victory takes Bayern onto 82 points from 31 matches. Munich will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final first leg.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen