Mainz 05 got a deserved late equaliser against Gladbach. Especially in the second half, the Nullfünfer were more dangerous than Borussia, who also had to mourn two injuries.
“It will be a game that will not be boring “, Gladbach coach Adi Hütter had said before the game at Mainz 05. However, the hoped-for spectacle failed to materialise at first. Mainz, who had Niakhaté back in the starting eleven for Nemeth compared to the 2-1 win at Arminia Bielefeld, made life difficult for the visitors with a hard-running attack and committed tackling. Onisiwo and Burkardt, who were in good form, were the ones to do it up front. The latter just missed two headers (15th, 23rd).
Borussia, who played with a defensive three-man backline after the 2-1 home win against VfL Bochum, hardly took place offensively. Without captain Stindl, for whom Netz started, Gladbach initially only found a gap in the Mainz defence once: Elvedi headed free past the goal (7th).
Wondergoal Rescues Mainz 05 – Borussia M’Gladbach 1-1
Truly game until Gladbach scores
Overall, the game was a tense affair, long periods of possession were rare. When Elvedi (28th) and Embolo (30th) were injured and could not continue, the flow of the game seemed to be completely gone.
After both teams had recovered, it was Gladbach who took the initiative first – and yet the opening goal came somewhat out of nowhere: Zentner could not hold Bensebaini’s long-range shot and deflected it to the feet of Neuhaus, who had replaced Elvedi and only had to push it in (38th).
The lead was good for the combination flow of the guests, the ball ran better from then on. Mainz did not manage to close the gaps as well as at the beginning of the game. Bensebaini should have made more out of his free header (42nd), Thuram after a strong pass from Neuhaus (45.+4). Mainz continued to make efforts, but offensively lacked penetrating power. Sommer only had to intervene with Onisiwo’s long-range attempt (44th).
Mainz turns up the heat
The Nullfünfer came out of the dressing room with much more steam and built up a lot of pressure – and Gladbach had a lot of problems with it, just like at the beginning. Lee forced Sommer into a brilliant save with his 17-metre shot (46). Again and again, Mainz went down the right side, where Onisiwo worked tirelessly. His crosses mostly found Burkardt, but fell just short of finding his strike partner (51st, 60th).
Widmer sends in a wonderful shot
Gladbach had little to counter the fired-up Mainzers in this phase, apart from a well-performing Sommer in goal, who showed strong saves against Lee (64th) and Burkardt (65th). Nevertheless, the equaliser was in the evening air for Mainz – and it came: Widmer flicked a too-short deflection by Koné into the left corner of the cross (76).
In the final phase, Gladbach tried to increase the tempo, but the Foals could not manage anything dangerous in the direction of Zentner, the Mainz defence was too secure. The Nullfünfer thus remain unbeaten in their fourth Bundesliga match in a row and continue to leave Borussia behind them in the table.
After the international break Mainz will host 1. FC Köln on 21 November (17.30), Gladbach will host Greuther Fürth one day earlier at 15.30.
