JHON CORDOBA FIRED an 86th-minute winner as Mainz claimed a shock 2-1 victory to end Bayern Munich’s perfect home record this season and breathe new life into the Bundesliga title race.
Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win at Darmstadt means Bayern travel to Signal Iduna Park on Saturday with the lead over their nearest rivals cut to five points.
Franck Ribery’s first Bundesliga start in more than a year following an injury ordeal came as former Bayern president Uli Hoeness sat in the stands in the week of his release from prison, but the defending champions were far from their usual levels of creative brilliance.
Bayern struggled for clear-cut chances throughout and required a long-range strike from Arjen Robben in the 64th-minute to cancel out Jairo Samperio’s first-half opener for the visitors.
Pep Guardiola sent on Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman in pursuit of the win, but it was Cordoba, who was also on target in Sunday’s impressive 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen, who had the final word to lift Martin Schmidt’s Champions League hopefuls up to fifth.
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