Preview

Lineup

Review

Mainz shock Leipzig despite several absences

By Rune Gjerulff

Despite having to cope without several important players, Mainz deservedly beat RB Leipzig on Sunday afternoon.

Mainz 05 sensationally beat RB Leipzig at Opel Arena despite being without a number of players for COVID-19 reasons.

The home side started on the front foot and came close to opening the scoring through new signing Jae-Sung Lee, who hit the woodwork after just five minutes.

Eight minutes later, Mainz captain Moussa Niakhaté broke the deadlock, poking home after a poor clearance from Nordi Mukiele following a corner.

In Jesse Marsch's first Bundesliga game as RB Leipzig coach, his troops looked destined to equalise just shy of the half-hour mark, but a last-ditch tackle from Mainz youngster Niklas Tauer stopped Christopher Nkunku's shot.

Paul Nebel, another young Mainz player, came close to making it 2-0 just after the break, but was denied by an excellent save from Peter Gulacsi.

The away side then went on to create a few chances at the other end, but Emil Forsberg and Mohamed Simakan weren't able to beat Robin Zentner.


Mainz actually had the ball in the net a second time before the final whistle, but Alexander Hack's goal was ruled out as it was deemed that the ball went out of play before it reached the centre-back.

Leipzig tried to put on the pressure in the latter stage of the game, but ultimately couldn't find the equaliser they needed and thus ended up falling to a sensational defeat.