After a poor first half, FC Bayern made a spectacular comeback at 1. FSV Mainz 05 and turned a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 away win. After the break, several wild cards brought the Munich side back into the game before Harry Kane completely turned the game around in the closing stages.
Vincent Kompany made eight changes to his starting XI compared to the 2-0 win in the DFB Cup semi-final at Bayer Leverkusen, with only Konrad Laimer, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Luis Díaz remaining in the starting line-up. Jonas Urbig started in goal, Leon Goretzka captained Munich for the first time and Bara Sapoko Ndiaye made his Bundesliga debut.
Bayern had a lot of possession at the start, but hardly developed any danger from it. Mainz waited for moments of transition and were rewarded after a quarter of an hour: After a corner, FSV remained on the attack, Kaishu Sano brought the ball into the penalty area from the right, Dominik Kohr took the ball on the volley and scored from around ten metres to make it 1-0 (15′).
The hosts remained dangerous after that, with Jonas Urbig initially preventing a second goal against Sheraldo Becker and Nadiem Amiri, but the Bayern keeper was beaten again shortly afterwards. After winning the ball in midfield, Sano sent Amiri on his way, whose shot was blocked by Urbig. Paul Nebel reacted quickest and slotted home from close range to make it 2:0 (29′).
Mainz overrun Bayern before the break
The record champions hardly found any solutions in the first half. Despite having significantly more possession, they lacked pace, precision and determination in the final third. Alphonso Davies only hit the outside of the net shortly before the break, while Mainz took advantage of almost every transition situation at the other end.
In stoppage time of the first half, the team from the Rheinhessen even went one better. Sano was again the starting point, this time with a strong ball to Amiri, whose shot from the left hit the crossbar, Becker beat the Bayern defence at the second post and pushed the ball over the line to make it 3:0 (45.+2). Munich went into the break with this clear deficit.
Kompany reacted at the break, bringing on Harry Kane and Michael Olise for Pavlovic and Díaz. The changes quickly had an effect. Nicolas Jackson first failed to beat Daniel Batz, but shortly afterwards the striker scored the equalizer. After a move involving Olise and Laimer, the cross landed with the Senegalese, who volleyed home from around eleven metres to make it 3:1 (53′).
Bayern then stepped up the pressure, with Jamal Musiala coming on for Raphaël Guerreiro and Josip Stanisic replacing Davies. Mainz found it increasingly difficult to relieve the pressure, while the Munich side increasingly pinned themselves in the home side’s penalty area. Olise finally got the record champions back into the game in the 73rd minute: the Frenchman cut inside from the right and flicked the ball into the far corner with a left-footed finish.
Kane turns the game around completely
Bayern now pressed for the equalizer. Musiala first missed the target from around 20 metres, but a short time later the international was on hand. After a pass to Olise, the Frenchman crossed from the right and Musiala poked the ball over the line in the Mainz goal area to make it 3:3 (80′).
Musiala and Stanisic combined down the right and into the penalty area, but Batz was unable to hold on to the ball. Kane was in the right place and slotted home the rebound from close range to make it 4:3 (83′). It was the Englishman’s 33rd goal of the season in the Bundesliga.
Mainz tried to respond once more in seven minutes of stoppage time, with Daniel Batz even moving forward for a corner, but Sano’s subsequent long-range shot whizzed past the Bayern goal. Shortly afterwards, referee Martin Petersen brought the game to a close. The Munich side thus turned a game around for the eighth time this Bundesliga season, equalling Bayer Leverkusen’s league record from the 1999/2000 season.
FC Bayern will continue their Champions League campaign on Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. with the semi-final first leg at Paris Saint-Germain. In the Bundesliga, Munich will host 1. FC Heidenheim on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Mainz will face FC St. Pauli on Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m.