Mainz proved its fairy tale start is for real by beating defending champion Bayern Munich 2-1 on the road to remain perfect atop the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Sami Allagui's goal after a quarter hour for Mainz was equaled by an own goal from Mainz defender Bo Svensson in the 45th minute. But Adam Szalai struck the winner in the 77th for Mainz's sixth straight victory to start the season.
Mainz has a perfect 18 points for a three-point lead on second-placed Borussia Dortmund. Mainz, which had never led the Bundesliga until this season, has not lost its last 11 league matches dating back to last season, a club record
"Today is definitely an occasion which I have to process myself as well. We have six wins and that is incredible, especially winning in Munich," said Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel.
"It was an extremely thrilling game. You always have a stage in Munich where they have a lot of possession and you have to run after the ball. But in the second half we controlled the tempo better. And it's the cherry on top that we got the lucky punch in the end."
Bayern Munich is 10 points behind Mainz with just eight points for eighth place.
"Ten points behind is a very precarious situation," Bayern manager Christian Nerlinger said. "Mainz is playing very confidently and we cannot be satisfied with just eight points after six games.
Bayern coach Louis van Gaal added: "I don't think we played very well for the first time this season and you have to give credit to Mainz for that."
Mainz was not intimidated by Bayern nor a packed Allianz Arena with 69,000 spectators on an Octoberfest Saturday, going right after the reigning champion from the start.
Mainz was classy in taking the lead after 15 minutes. Lewis Holtby's cross from the right side went to Allagui, who back-heeled past Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt for the opening goal.
The visitors were unlucky in the final minute of the first half when Svensson's header pass to his keeper went past Christian Wetklo and into his own goal.
The league's stunning leader, however, withstood Bayern's attack in the second half and Szalai struck the winner with a strong blast with 12 minutes to play.
Dortmund remained right on Mainz's heels with a 3-1 victory at St. Pauli thanks to two goals by Kevin Grosskreutz.
Grosskreutz's first goal in the 17th was matched by Rouwen Hennings in the 26th. Japanese star Shinji Kawaga made it 2-1 for Dortmund in the 50th and Grosskreutz struck for a second time 11 minutes later.
"We really played good football and created a lot of chances. But it was a little too good to be true," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said.
"We didn't watch out just once, and then evened the game, and we lost control of the game. Luckily we had the halftime to regain control of the match and calm down."
Last season's runner-up Schalke eased its situation slightly during the week with its first victory of the season. But on Saturday, Schalke needed Spanish star Raul's first Bundesliga goal in the 87th minute to salvage a 2-2 draw at home over 10-man Borussia Moenchengladach.
Gladbach went ahead 2-0 on goals by Filip Daems (penalty in the 15th minute) and Michael Bradley (43rd). But recent signing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar pulled a goal back for Schalke in the 52nd, setting up Raul's first tally.
"I can't figure out why we didn't play the whole game like we did in the first half," an annoyed Schalke coach Felix Magath said.
Raul said: "I am really happy about finally scoring. But it's too bad that we didn't win the game. But as a team we played a strong second half and we can build upon that."
Bayer Leverkusen, missing at least five starters, shook off a series of injuries to gain a 4-1 victory at 10-man Stuttgart.
Sami Hyypia (19th) and Arturo Vidal (21st) gave Leverkusen a 2-0 lead before Mauro Camoranesi was sent off with a red card in the 31st minute.
Zdravko Kuzmanovic halved the deficit in the 52nd but Hanno Balitsch made it 3-1 in the 69th and Sidney Sam finished off the scoring with two minutes to play.
Fanis Gekas scored in the 17th minute and Cris hit one in in the 88th for Eintracht Frankfurt to beat visiting Nuremberg 2-0.
Werder Bremen beat Hamburg 3-2 in a showdown of northern German neighbors, with Hugo Almeida notching his second goal in the 85th minute.
Spurred on by the return of injured stars Per Mertesacker and Claudio Pizarro, Bremen led 2-0 early thanks to Marko Marin (25th) and Almeida (28th).
But Ruud van Nistelrooy (59th) and Jonathan Pitroipa (63rd) tallied for Hamburg.
Fanis Gekas scored in the 17th minute and Cris hit one in in the 88th for Eintracht Frankfurt to beat visiting Nuremberg 2-0.
