Munich, March 3 (IANS) A clinical Mainz snatched a late 2-1 victory thanks to Jhon Cordoba’s winner at Bayern Munich as runners-up Dortmund edged rival German football club Darmstadt 2-0 to reap the fourth straight win in the 24th round of Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich suffered their second loss of the season as Mainz shocked the hosts with the winner from Cordoba in the dying minutes of the game here on Wednesday, reports Xinhua.
Pep Guardiola’s men dominated the match from kick-off but Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius drove the German giants to desperation after defusing the efforts by Arturo Vidal and Juan Bernat in the first 20 minutes.
Mainz came into the picture with their second chance in the 26th minute as Jairo Samperio shocked the hosts with the opener against the run of the game. Giulio Donati’s square pass to the far post found Jairo, who tapped in following a fast break.
Bayern piled on the pressure but were unable to overcome Mainz’s well-organised defence before the break. Things changed after the restart as Arjen Robben’s low-shot overcame Karius into the far post corner to level the scores with 64 minutes into the game.
It looked as it would be just a matter of time before the dominant hosts grab the lead but instead Mainz flabbergasted Bayer Munich in the 86th minute through Cordoba, who unleashed a hammer to beat custodian Manuel Neuer for the 2-1 lead.
The ‘Bavarians’ increased their efforts but Mainz kept their lead to the end to reap the 12th win of the season and defend their fifth place. Bayern remain atop the standings although their eight-point advantage melted to five owing to Dortmund’s win.
Runners-up Dortmund capitalised on Bayern’s unexpected loss as the ‘BVB’ edged newly promoted Darmstadt 2-0 to extend their winning streak. Dortmund reduce the arrears to front-runners Bayern to five points as Darmstadt remained in 14th place.
Elsewhere, Hertha Berlin defended their third place thanks to a 2-0 victory over struggling Frankfurt on home soil. Fourth placed Monchengladbach cruised 4-0 past Stuttgart, who suffered their second loss in a row.
Schalke returned into the top six after turning the tides to 3-1 against 10-men Hamburg.
Claudio Pizarro’s hat-trick helped Werder Bremen to ease their relegation worries following a 4-1 victory at Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim earned decisive points in the relegation battle after overpowering Augsburg 2-1.
