Manuel Neuer injury clouds Bayern Munich win after latest costly error

Bayern Munich beat Mainz 2-1 on Saturday, but Manuel Neuer’s difficult afternoon overshadowed the Bundesliga leaders’ victory after the goalkeeper made another mistake before being forced off with a recurrence of a foot injury.

Neuer, 40 years and 225 days old, became Bayern’s oldest player by surpassing Bernd Dreher. However, his landmark appearance ended before half-time when he was replaced by 23-year-old Jonas Urbig.

With Bayern leading 1-0, Neuer flailed at a cross and Mainz’s Lee Jae-Sung turned the ball into the net. The goal was ruled out for offside, sparing the visitors from conceding an equaliser.

The incident followed Neuer’s error against Augsburg last month, when Robin Fellhauer scored after eight seconds to register the fastest goal in Bundesliga history. It was the latest in a growing series of mistakes from the goalkeeper, who was once regarded as one of the best in the world.

Data compiled by Sofascore from Opta shows that Neuer’s error against Augsburg was his fifth leading directly to a goal in his previous 17 Bundesliga matches – one every 3.4 games. In his 248 appearances before that period, he had made 10 such errors, or one every 24.8 matches.

Neuer had missed four games with the foot problem after Bayern’s 2-2 draw with Augsburg. He had returned to play twice, including in the 2-0 Champions League victory at Atletico Madrid earlier this week, before the injury resurfaced against Mainz.

Despite Harry Kane failing to score, Bayern secured the points with the England captain providing assists for Joshua Kimmich and 18-year-old Lennart Karl.

The result extended Bayern’s unbeaten away run in the league to 31 matches and kept them top of the Bundesliga. They and Borussia Dortmund have 21 points from nine games, although Bayern lead on goal difference.

Dortmund were pushed hard by promoted Elversberg but prevailed 2-1, with Felix Nmecha scoring both goals.

Third-placed RB Leipzig, three points behind the leaders, defeated Augsburg 5-2 at home. Elsewhere, Jonathan Burkardt scored an equaliser in the 93rd minute as Eintracht Frankfurt drew 2-2 with Paderborn in a meeting between two mid-table sides.