The battle between the two sides at the thick end of the European chase, Leipzig could not have hoped for a better start against a Mainz side looking for a European place for the first time in nine years.Â
Benjamin Sesko did excellently to find Lois Openda on the right-hand side of the box, whose subsequent ball into the area caused a scramble capitalised on by Xavi Simons, who slammed home into the roof of the net to give die Roten Bullen the lead inside a minute.Â
However, it took just six minutes in the second half for Mainz to prove yet again, why they should not be written off against any opposition.
Starting the second half with purpose, Nadiem Amiri slammed the ball home inside the box to drag his side level before a period of Mainz pressure.
And die Nullfünfer completed the turnaround in the 58th minute, when the talismanic Jonathan Burkardt struck the ball home after being found by Amiri on the left-hand side of the box.
After taking the lead, it was the visitors who remained the much better side in an attacking sense, and they came close to adding a third when Burkardt hit the post after a lovely passing move.
Recovering impeccably from a far-from-ideal first minute and hanging on towards the end, Mainz place themselves in fourth ahead of Freiburg’s trip to Augsburg tomorrow afternoon.