Jhon Cordoba scored late to give FSV Mainz 05 a stunning 2-1 upset win at Bayern Munich and add some suspense to the Bundesliga season on Wednesday.
Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 at SV Darmstadt 98 ahead of tomorrow’s showdown at home to Bayern. If Dortmund win, they would cut Bayern’s lead from five points to two.
Cordoba fired home in the 86th minute to end Bayern’s run of 11 straight home wins this season. He also spoiled the return to the stadium of former Bayern president Uli Hoeness, who was released from prison two days ago after serving a sentence for tax evasion.
Photo: AP
Bayer 04 Leverkusen fell to their third straight loss, Claudio Pizarro scoring a hat-trick in the 4-1 win on the road for Werder Bremen.
Hertha BSC consolidated their hold on third place by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0, Schalke 04 beat 10-man Hamburg SV 3-2, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim beat Augsburg 2-1 and Borussia Moenchengladbach routed VfB Stuttgart 4-0. Bremen escaped from the relegation zone, while Frankfurt dropped into it.
In Munich, Mainz used a clever defense to keep Bayern at bay. Although Pep Guardiola’s team had more possession, Mainz ran a lot and looked for their chance on the counterattack.
Such a break allowed Mainz to go ahead in the 26th minute. Giulio Donati crossed from the right and Jairo Samperio was left unmarked at the far post to knock the ball in.
Guardiola started the match with only one German player — goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Franck Ribery made his first start in a year and created Bayern’s best chance when he fed Arturo Vidal at the edge of the penalty area. Vidal’s mighty volley was turned away by Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius.
Bayern pulled level when Arjen Robben fired low inside the post from long range in the 64th minute, but Mainz remained calm and Cordoba got the winner. Julian Baumgartlinger shook off Vidal and crossed for the Colombia striker to drive home past Neuer.
Mainz are now fifth, equal on points with fourth-placed Moenchengladbach.
Robben said Bayern made mistakes before Cordoba’s goal that should not happen.
“When you win many matches one after the other, the time will come when you lose one,” Robben said.
Guardiola’s team has not looked convincing in the past few matches in the buildup to the showdown in Dortmund.
Dortmund had few problems in a routine win in Darmstadt on goals from Adrian Ramos and Erik Durm in either half.
“Everything went our way today — we won and Bayern lost,” Durm said. “We can beat Bayern at home.”
Pizarro, the 37-year-old veteran, raised his Bundesliga total tally to 99 goals and is now Bremen’s top scorer of all time, ahead of Frank Neubarth and Rudi Voeller with 97 each.
Fin Bartels also scored for Werder, while Leverkusen’s only strike was an own-goal from Papy Djilododji.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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