15:30 Kickoffs: Mainz, Kiel, and St. Pauli all deliver upset wins

Bo Henriksen's FSV Mainz 05 have pulled off another upset victory in the league and now head into the winter break as potential European contenders. The Rhineland Palatinate's "Carnival Club" brushed off an early Nadiem Amiri red card and took out Dino Toppmöller's Eintracht Frankfurt at Deutsche Bank Park on Saturday afternoon. The Hessen-hosts were undone by several atrocious defensive errors in the loss. 

Toppmöller made five changes to the team that lost last Sunday away at Leipzig. Outfielders Ansgar Knauff, Hugo Larsson, Mahmoud Dahoud, and Can Uzun were all moved to the bench in favor of Nnamdi Collins, Ellyes Skhiri, Oscar Højlund, and Fares Chaibi. Toppmöller had to make on enforced change in goal. With illness claiming both Kevin Trapp and Jens Grahl, Kaua Santos received his sixth overall start of the season. 

Henriksen went with two personnel changes to the XI that shocked Bayern last week. Defender Danny da Costa - once again fit - took over for Moritz Jenz in the back-three. Meanwhile, Jonathan Burkardt replacement Armindo Sieb, spearheaded the attack just as he did last weekend after previous starter Burkardt succumbed to injury.

The first ten minutes unfolded as one might expect, with the Hessian hosts dominating proceedings. Mainz stood up to the unrelenting SGE pressure, preventing any clear goal-scoring opportunities. Henriksen's Rheinhessen nevertheless looked highly frazzled in the face of the Frankfurt attacking waves. Matters turned around shortly after the quarter-of-an-hour mark. 

Skhiri put Luau Santos under pressure with a poor back-pass. The Eintracht net-minder ended up scoring an own-goal with a haphazard attempt to clear. Toppmöller's team nearly equalized three minutes after the 16th-minute 0-1 when defender Rasmus Kristensen headed off the post in the 19th. More assertive play from the favorites seemed to suggest that the 1-1 would still not be long in forthcoming.

Mainz found themselves reduced to ten men in the 21st when Amiri was sent off on a straight red for a tackle on Skhiri. Another botched clearance, however, meant that Frankfurt failed to capitalize on the man advantage. A poor head-out from SGE defender Arthur Theate gave FSV attacker Paul Nebel a chance to operate in some space.

Nebel maneuvered himself into position from 18 meters out. Robin Koch then slightly deflected Nebel's distance effort into the back of the net. To their credit, Eintracht continued to pound the Mainzer defensive ranks. Chaibi and Omar Marmoush were not far off with quality chances before the first half drew to a close. The bizarre opening 45 still concluded with Mainz up 2-0. 

Matters got more ridiculous after the restart. Henriksen yanked attacking Sieb in favor of defender Nikolas Veratschnig in order to protect the lead. It would be Veratschnig who intercepted a poor pass out of the back from Kaua Santos in the 58th. Last week's hero Jae-Sung Lee then couldn't get his effort past the SGE keeper, but Nebel was on hand to stuff home the rebound. 

The RheinMain Eagles eventually made a dent in Mainz's scarcely fathomable 3-0 lead when Rasmus Kristensen scored off a corner in the 75th. Mainz keeper Robin Zentner remained on his toes during the frantic final quarter-of-an-hour, helping ensure that the game would conclude in a 3-1 victory for the guests. 

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga's 15:30 kickoffs:

Kiel-Augsburg

In the other big shock of the afternoon, newly promoted Holstein Kiel were able to secure just their second Bundesliga win ever against visiting Augsburg. Jess Thorup's Fuggerstädter secured an early 1-0 lead, yet then proceeded to completely fall apart as the Storks scored four unanswered goals before the first half was out. Lasse Rosenboom commented his first ever Bundesliga goal on the 1-1. Surprise up-and-comer Phil Harres then added two more via his first ever Bundesliga brace. A gorgeously curled finish off a free-kick enabled Shuto Machino to cement a 4-1 half-time lead. 

Kiel - understandably enough - played matters more conservatively in order to kill off the second 45 minutes. The trailing team still wasn't able to do much. Most regrettably for Harres, a potential hat trick for the Kiel striker was annulled after a VAR review compelled match official Tobias Welz to take the goal back due to a foul in the lead-up. Kiel eventually scored a well-deserved fifth goal in second half injury time. Machino joined Harres in claiming a scorer's brace on the 5-1 at 90+1.

Stuttgart-St. Pauli

The 2024/25 Bundesliga's other promoted side also managed to turn in a surprisingly good first half against their favored opponents. FC St. Pauli - coached by Stuttgart native Alexander Blessin - took the lead against Sebastian Hoeneß' Swabians via a Johannes Eggestein strike in the 21st. Stuttgart could not equalize despite producing plenty of chances.

The Hamburg guests delivered stronger play in the second half, missing out on a chance to double the advantage when VfB keeper Alexander Nübel made a double save on a penalty in the 54th. Both sides generated additional scoring chances during a thrilling concluding phase. With plenty of verve and a little luck, Blessin's men held on secured the victory. 

Bremen-Union Berlin

A much more predictable outcome unfolded at the Weserstadion in Bremen. SV attacker Marco Grüll helped Ole Werner's Hanseaten rush out to a 2-0 lead against Bo Svensson's Eisernen with a blitz brace before 17 minutes had been played. Though Union's Andras Schäfer was able to pull a goal back, Mitchell Weiser restored the two-goal-cushion before the opening 45 was out. SV wingback Derrick Köhn registered assists on Weiser's tally and one of Grüll's goals.

Köhn's quality shone through in the second half as well. The former Bayern academy man nearly collected more assists on several further Bremen chances. Jens Stage finally scored the fourth Bremen goal late in the match. Incredibly, the Danish "defensive midfielder" has now scored seven league goals this campaign. 

Hoffenheim-Gladbach

The winless run of Christian Ilzer's Hoffenheim has been extended to seven matches after the latest home result. After taking all three points against Leipzig in spectacular fashion in Ilzer's debut, the Kraichgauer have not won since. Philipp Sander put the visiting Niederrheiner ahead 1-0 in the 23rd. Andrej Kramaric drew the hosts level from the spot in the 59th.

BMG attacker Alassane Plea nevertheless wasted no time putting Gerardo Seoane's side back ahead again with the 2-1 in the 61st. Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas helped preserve the win with a pair of top-notch saves near the end of the game. Gladbach have - at long last - managed to string together two consecutive wins after over two years without doing so.