Neuer record-breaking day turns sour after error and injury

Bayern Munich secured a 2-1 victory over Mainz in the Bundesliga on Saturday, but goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's form drew attention once again following another error in the match. Neuer, now the oldest player at 40 years and 225 days, had overtaken Bernd Dreher as the club's oldest player. However, he was forced off with a recurrence of a foot injury he had earlier in the season, replaced by the 23-year-old Jonas Urbig before halftime.

Neuer's mistake in the first half resulted in Mainz's Lee Jae-Sung scoring an offside goal, making the score 1-0 to Bayern. This error followed a similar one against Augsburg last month, where Neuer's mishap led to Robin Fellhauer scoring the fastest goal in Bundesliga history after just eight seconds. According to Opta data, Neuer has committed five errors leading to goals in his previous 17 Bundesliga games, equating to one every 3.4 matches. In 248 appearances before that, he had only made 10 such errors, or one every 24.8 games.

Neuer returned to action twice since the Augsburg match, missing four games due to the foot injury. He played in Bayern's 2-0 Champions League win against Atlético Madrid. Harry Kane, the Ballon d'Or winner, failed to score against Mainz but provided two assists for Joshua Kimmich and 18-year-old Lennart Karl. Bayern extended their unbeaten away run in the league to 31 games, maintaining their lead at the top of the Bundesliga, which Borussia Dortmund shares with 21 points from nine games.

Dortmund had a scare from promoted Elversberg but won 2-1 with goals from Felix Nmecha. Third-placed RB Leipzig, who sit three points behind the leaders, secured a 5-2 victory at home to Augsburg, while Jonathan Burkardt scored an 93rd-minute equalizer for Eintracht Frankfurt, resulting in a 2-2 draw at Paderborn between two midtable sides.