Despite seeing very little of the ball, it was the visitors who almost broke the deadlock in unorthodox fashion when the ball ricocheted off Lee Jae-Sung’s head and rattled the bar before the hosts restored possession.
Bayern’s first clear-cut opportunity arrived after 20 minutes played, as Daniel Batz made an excellent reflex stop to deny Harry Kane from only a few yards out. Batz was called into urgent action again shortly afterwards with an impressive save to tip Michael Olise’s curling effort around the post to keep his clean sheet intact.
As expected, Mainz’s defence were having to soak up vast amounts of pressure right from the off, and it was no surprise when Vincent Kompany’s side took the lead just before the half-hour mark.
Serge Gnabry dragged the ball back from the byline and into the six-yard area to find an unmarked Karl, who steered the ball home with a composed finish, marking the 17-year-old wonderkid’s third Bundesliga goal of the season.
However, with the interval on the horizon, the visitors stunned the home crowd with a stoppage-time equaliser from Polish teenage defender Potulski, as he headed in William Boving’s exquisite free-kick delivery.
Anyone expecting the Bavarians to run riot in the second half were in for a surprise, as the hosts were unable to even register a shot on target in the opening quarter of an hour after the interval.
Bayern supporters thought their team were set to reclaim the lead after 64 minutes when Gnabry found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat, but Batz made an excellent block before Kane’s rebound was superbly cleared away in front of the goal line.
Remarkably, Mainz ended up taking the lead midway through the second half when a searching cross by Stefan Bell found Lee, who leapt like a salmon to superbly head the ball past Manuel Neuer to silence the Allianz Arena.
Kane led the charge to grab an equaliser, but his close-range header was straight at Batz with just over 10 minutes of normal time left.
However, with time quickly running out, the hosts were awarded a penalty after Potulski fouled Kane inside the box, and the England international stepped up to take the spot-kick, making no mistake to send Batz the wrong way to claw back a point.
Despite the draw, Bayern are now nine points clear of RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga and will aim to return to winning ways in the league next weekend when they face Heidenheim away from home.
Meanwhile, Mainz remain bottom of the table, but supporters will be hoping that this unlikely point will spearhead a change of fortune under new head coach Urs Fischer.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)
