Gladbach held to a draw at Mainz
Mainz - Borussia Mönchengladbach extended their unbeaten run to seven, despite being held to a goalless draw at 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Matchday 16.
Okazaki comes close
Boosted by their recent string of consecutive wins, Lucien Favre's men began brightly, enjoying the larger share of possession. Raffael could have given the five-time Bundesliga champions the lead after ten minutes, his shot swerving just wide from the edge of the box, before Juan Arango saw his long-range effort denied by Loris Karius.
Clear-cut goalscoring opportunities remained at a premium at either end until the interval, however, though Mainz's forward Shinji Okazaki nearly caught Mönchengladbach cold when the Japan international had only custudian Marc-Andre ter Stegen to beat.
Borussia kept themselves predominantly in the driving seat against a stubborn Mainz side and almost saw their efforts come to an avail shortly after the break when 21-year-old Julian Korb fired just past the left post from a tight angle.
Kruse wasteful
The visitors should have broken the deadlock 15 minutes from time after beating the 05ers in transition to carve out the best chance of the encounter, yet Max Kruse endeavoured to squander Patrick Herrmann's pinpoint pass. Both players failed to breach Mainz's stronghold with time winding down, as Gladbach passed up the chance to move into the top three.
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