Bayern beat Mainz as Neuer suffers injury on record-breaking appearance

Bayern Munich maintained their position at the top of the Bundesliga with a 2-1 victory at Mainz on Saturday, but Manuel Neuer's record-breaking appearance ended before half-time because of injury. According to The Guardian's European football report, the goalkeeper suffered a recurrence of the foot problem that had already kept him out of recent matches.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AThcDPAxMLg

Neuer became Bayern's oldest player at 40 years and 225 days, surpassing Bernd Dreher. He was replaced by Jonas Urbig before the interval, cutting short a milestone outing that also included a scare for the visitors. With Bayern leading 1-0, Neuer failed to deal with a cross and Lee Jae-sung put the ball into the net, only for the effort to be disallowed for offside.

Harry Kane did not score, but supplied the assists for both Bayern goals, converted by Joshua Kimmich and 18-year-old Lennart Karl. The result extended Bayern's unbeaten run away from home in the Bundesliga to 31 matches. Their goals were enough to secure all three points despite the disruption caused by the change of goalkeeper.

The injury setback followed Neuer's return in Bayern's 2-0 Champions League win at Atlético Madrid earlier in the week. The Guardian reported that he had missed four matches with the foot injury and had made only two appearances since the 2-2 draw against Augsburg last month. The Mainz outing therefore brought another interruption soon after his return.

His recent errors also formed part of the backdrop. Against Augsburg, a Neuer mistake led to Robin Fellhauer scoring after eight seconds, the fastest goal in Bundesliga history. Citing Sofascore figures using Opta data, The Guardian said that was Neuer's fifth error leading to a goal in 17 league appearances, compared with 10 in the preceding 248.

Bayern finished Saturday level with Borussia Dortmund on 21 points from nine games, retaining first place through their superior goal difference. Dortmund kept pace by beating promoted Elversberg 2-1, with Felix Nmecha scoring twice. Third-placed RB Leipzig remained three points behind the leading pair after a 5-2 home victory over Augsburg.