Title-holders Bayern Munich scored four second-half goals as they came from behind to beat Mainz 05 4-1 yesterday and regain top place in the Bundesliga.

An early penalty from Marco Reus gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over Hanover 96 while Roman Neustaedter scored in stoppage time as Schalke 04 came from behind to win 3-2 at Eintracht Braunschweig.

Josip Drmic scored late in the game to give winless Nuremberg a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt. Freiburg are also still looking for their first win after a goalless draw at Werder Bremen.

Shawn Parker grabbed Mainz’s only serious chance of the game, just before half-time, but Bayern responded in the second half with Arjen Robben and Thomas Mueller turning the game on its head in the space of two minutes.

Mario Mandzukic added a third before Muller’s second – this time from the penalty spot – completed the rout to lift the champions back to the summit after they had been displaced on Friday night when Bayer Leverkusen won 2-1 at Hoffenheim.

A few seasons ago, Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel joked that he would park the team bus in front of his goal to keep Bayern out.

They did not do that, and Tuchel did not repeat the threat this year, although his side went closer to putting it into practice as they frustrated Bayern into doing precious little with their near-80 per cent possession.

Try as they might, Bayern lacked the creativity to find a way through the massed ranks, and then they lost defender Dante to injury for good measure.

Before home coach Pep Guardiola could reorganise his defence, Mainz took advantage with a long ball sending Parker through, Jerome Boateng’s flailing leg failing to intercept the pass.

Guardiola’s answer was to send Mario Goetze on for Rafinha for the start of the second period, practically abandoning defence. With their possession and territorial domination, it was a calculated risk. And it worked.

Goetze’s first notable involvement was to thread the ball through to Robben, who just had to shift it onto his favoured left foot and pick his spot in the far corner of Christian Wetklo’s goal.

Two minutes later, Bayern perfected their ping-passing with Mandzukic and Robben setting up Mueller to score from eight yards.

Goetze teed up Mandzukic for Bayern’s third and there was time for a fourth when Bastian Schweinsteiger went to ground easily inside the area, earning the penalty he was looking for.

After some discussion, Mueller placed the ball on the spot – upsetting Robben in the process – and swept it past the keeper.

Results
B. Munich 4 - Mainz 1
B. Dortmund 1 - Hanover 0
Braunschweig 2 - Schalke 3
Hertha Berlin 1 - B. M’gladbach 0
E. Frankfurt 1 - Nuremberg 1
W. Bremen 0 - Freiburg 0

Playing today:
Hamburg vs Stuttgart - 15.30
Augbsurg vs Wolfsburg - 17.30

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