Thomas Müller did not bring FC Bayern Munich any luck when he returned as a guest of honor. With a late penalty goal from Harry Kane, the German football record champions at least avoided their first Bundesliga defeat of the season in a 2-2 (1-1) draw against bottom-placed FSV Mainz 05 under new coach Urs Fischer.
After the opening goal for the oppressively superior Munich team by Lennart Karl (29th minute), the highly efficient guests surprisingly turned the game around with Kacper Potulski (45th + 1) and Jae-Sung Lee (67th). Kane struck back late (87′). Fischer could still be happy with his Bundesliga start in Mainz.
After the pursuers Leipzig (1:3) and Dortmund (1:1) were unable to win, to Müller’s astonishment his favorite club also failed. As usual, the Vancouver Whitecaps professional followed Honorary President Uli Hoeneß alongside supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in the unequal duel, in which nothing spoke in favor of the Mainz point for a long time.
Ball possession of 94:6 percent in the initial phase
The Munich team dominated the action against the very deep Mainz team with overwhelming superiority. Thanks to merciless effectiveness and a lot of passion, the guests, led by the strong substitute goalkeeper Daniel Batz, managed to score the surprising point. Curious: Exactly a year ago to the day, Mainz defeated FC Bayern, who were unbeaten at the time.
A ball possession of 94:6 percent in the opening quarter of an hour was an impressive figure in one-way street football, in which goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who was largely unemployed, was even allowed to take a throw-in himself. After Harry Kane (20th), Michael Olise (23rd) and Josip Stanisic (24th) had already sniffed the lead, it was once again shooting star Karl who was able to celebrate an important goal for the star ensemble.
Initiated by Olise on the right wing, who tunneled through his opponent, the ball came via Kane to Serge Gnabry. The national player kept an overview and laid on for Karl, who was lurking in the middle. It was the 17-year-old’s third Bundesliga goal. FC Bayern became the first Bundesliga team to break the 50-goal mark on matchday 14.
In front of 75,000 spectators, Mainz actually limited themselves to defensive work and relied primarily on set pieces up front. After they almost celebrated an involuntary ping-pong header from Lee early on (20′), they were actually allowed to do so in stoppage time in the first half. After a free kick from William Bøving, Potulski headed in to equalize. Before the 18-year-old could celebrate his debut goal in the Bundesliga, he had to endure agonizingly long minutes of video checking.
Shortly after the break, Karl set up perfectly for Gnabry, but he missed from the best position (60th). Gnabry again and Kane in the follow-up shot should have finally restored Munich’s lead (63′). Instead, Mainz struck once again ice-cold against the disorganized Bayern defense. And without Kane’s ability to take penalties, the league series without defeat would have ended.
