Gladbach slip up away to Mainz
Borussia Mönchengladbach suffered a second successive Bundesliga defeat after losing 1-0 away to an impressive 1. FSV Mainz 05 side in the Matchday 19 opener on Friday evening.
1. FSV Mainz 05 1-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Goals: 1-0 Clemens (21')
The match began brightly, with both teams looking to attack whenever they gained possession. However, it was the hosts, wearing special-edition shirts to mark Carnival season, who broke the deadlock when Jairo Samperio scampered through the Gladbach midfield to find Christian Clemens, who found the corner from the edge of the area.
The visitors only showed glimpses of their quality in the second half, but should have scored an equaliser in the 72nd minute when first Gaëtan Bussmann and then Loris Karius cleared off the line in quick succession from Lars Stindl and Raffael respectively. Gladbach continued to attack until the final whistle, but Mainz’s disciplined rearguard held firm to earn the hosts all three points.
Man of the match
Jairo was excellent again here, constantly finding pockets of space in which to torment the Gladbach defence and proving decisive with a superb run and pass for the winning goal.
Talking point
This was Mainz’s first league win since Matchday 15, ending a two-game losing streak. The victory moved the hosts to within two points of Gladbach, who have now lost two in a row as they suffered their eighth defeat of the season.
Match stats
- Clemens’ strike was Mainz’s first long-range goal this season. The midfielder also found the net against Gladbach on Matchday 2. Mainz covered 125.17 kilometres collectively; Gladbach ran 120.45 km.Gladbach have not scored in their last six games played on a Friday.Gladbach’s Andreas Christensen had more touches of the ball than any other player (103).
Line-ups
Mainz: Karius – Brosinski, Balogun, Bell, Bussmann – Baumgartlinger (c), Latza – Clemens, Malli (Frei 79’), Jairo (De Blasis 89’) – Muto (Cordoba 67’)
Gladbach: Sommer – Korb (Drmic 86’), Christensen, Hinteregger, Wendt – Traore (Hazard 61’), Nordtveit (c), Johnson, Hofmann (Hrgota 70’) – Stindl, Raffael