Mainz Triumphs Over Gladbach with Three Goals to Sustain Champions League Ambitions

Mainz 05 reignited their ambitions of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time with a confident 3-1 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach, elevating them to third place in the Bundesliga.

Having kept three clean sheets in their last four matches, it was perhaps expected that the first half would feature limited attacking opportunities.

Paul Nebel did come close with a curled strike from 25 yards that narrowly missed the far post, while the first shot on target did not arrive until just before the half-hour, when Tim Kleindienst’s header was saved at the opposite end.

Bo Henriksen’s team then tested goalkeeper Jonas Omlin for the first time, though he comfortably dealt with Jonathan Burkhardt’s weak header.

However, Omlin was powerless to stop Nebel from scoring just before half-time, as a deflected shot from near the penalty spot wrong-footed him and trickled into the net.

This was the seventh occasion this season where the hosts found themselves trailing at half-time, and given that they had lost their previous six such matches, the home crowd could be forgiven for feeling pessimistic about a comeback.

The situation worsened for them in the 48th minute when Mainz extended their lead through an unexpected contributor. Dominik Kohr, after having his initial header from Nadiem Amiri’s floated free-kick saved, reacted quickest to tap in his first league goal since February 2024.

The visitors seemed well on their way to securing a seventh away victory in the Bundesliga this season, matching their total from all venues during the previous campaign. They could have even added to their tally, had Omlin not made a superb save, diving low to his left to deny Nebel.

This kept the Foals in the contest, and after Robin Hack had one shot saved and another miss the target following a desperate block, they managed to pull one back thanks to a mistake by Robin Zentner. The Mainz goalkeeper fumbled the ball right at the feet of Stefan Lainer, who capitalised to score from close range.

However, any hope of a comeback was short-lived, as Mainz swiftly restored their two-goal advantage with a stunning 20-yard strike from Amiri, which swerved past Omlin and hit the back of the net.

This broke the resilience of Gerardo Seoane’s side, who suffered just their third home defeat in 11 league matches, while the 05ers celebrated an impressive unbeaten run of nine matches against this opponent, their best active streak in the Bundesliga.