Bottom-placed Mainz earn a point away at Bayern

With RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund dropping points earlier on matchday 14, Bayern Munich knew a win would extend their lead to 11 points. Vincent Kompany surprised Mainz with a makeshift defense as Hiroki Itō, Kim Min-Jae, and Tom Bischof earned starting nods.

Apart from the suspended Luis Diaz, Bayern had their strongest lineup in the attack, though. Lennart Karl added himself to that list with his breakthrough season, and he had the game’s first shot with his usual technique.

At the other end, Lee Jae-sung was denied by the woodwork, although he knew very little about his header. That served as a wakeup call for Bayern with Daniel Batz forced to make three saves in less than five minutes.

The 34-year-old goalkeeper thwarted Harry Kane, Serge Gnabry, and Michael Olise, but it’s almost impossible to keep the Rekordmeister at bay these days. Karl opened the gates with a tap-in after an excellent play by Gnabry.

Thomas Müller, who could be considered as the last world-class attacker to come out of Bayern’s academy before Karl, celebrated the goal from the stands. Bayern did very little for the rest of the half, and they were punished for it before the half-time whistle.

In only his second Bundesliga appearance, Kacper Potulski beat Manuel Neuer with a strong header from William Bøving’s free-kick. Mainz’s equalizer needed a lengthy VAR check for an offside before Dr. Robin Braun allowed it to stand.

Bayern’s first chance of the second-half came at the hour-mark when Karl and Gnabry combined again. The latter failed to score from a close range after Karl’s excellent crossing. Kompany responded with triple changes, including handing Alphonso Davies his first minutes of the Bundesliga campaign.

The hosts seemed to raise the tempo as Batz denied Gnabry before Potulski’s goalline clearance from Kane’s follow-up effort. However, Mainz took the lead right away with a magnificent header from Lee Jae-sung.

The South Korean scored a brace when Mainz beat Bayern on matchday 14 last season, and he was at it again to guide home Stefan Bell’s inviting delivery. Kompany took the risk of playing without a recognized center-back by taking off Kim Min-jae and Hiroki Ito.

Coming off the bench, Nicolas Jackson tried to score from a difficult angle when Karl was waiting for another simple finish. Bayern did get a lifeline when Potulski fouled Kane inside the box, though. The Englishman kept his perfect record from penalty-kicks by scoring his 80th Bundesliga goal.

However, Urs Fischer’s side managed to salvage a point in the first Bundesliga game for the Swiss as Mainz’s coach. Bayern Munich will travel to Heidenheim for their last game of the year, while Mainz play two more games in the space of three days against Samsunspor and St. Pauli.