Borussia Mönchengladbach were beaten 2-1 by 1. FSV Mainz 05 on matchday 22 in the Bundesliga, with the visitors scoring the winner late on.
The Foals controlled the opening exchanges in what was the 30th Bundesliga meeting between the two sides, however, Yann Sommer was picking the ball out of his net after just 10 minutes. A long punt towards Karim Onisiwo was allowed to bounce and the Austrian fired a volley in off the post to open the scoring. Borussia reacted well though and added some punch to their possession, finding an equaliser in the 26th minute. Valentino Lazaro made good headway down the left flank, and his low cross was laid off by Jonas Hofmann for Lars Stindl to place into the bottom corner with a first-time finish.
The captain's tenth Bundesliga goal gave Gladbach the momentum going into the interval, but they were unable to maintain the same tempo throughou the second 45. After a couple of half chances, including a Stindl free-kick that just cleared the bar, the visitors from Mainz started to grow in confidence and snatched a late winner through substitute Kevin Stöger (86'). The 2-1 defeat leaves the Foals eighth in the Bundesliga table, with full focus now swtiching to Wednesday's UEFA Champions League last-16 first leg against Manchester City.
TEAM NEWS
Marco Rose didn't make any changes to the side that started in Wolfsburg last week, although there was a return to the bench for Marcus Thuram and Denis Zakaria following their respective injuries.
MATCH FACTS
Borussia: Sommer – Lainer (90' Embolo), Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini – Kramer (46' Zakaria), Neuhaus – Lazaro (82' Wolf), Stindl, Hofmann – Plea (73' Thuram)
Mainz 05: Zentner – da Costa, St. Juste, Bell (63' Hack), Niakhaté, Mwene – Barreiro (80' Boetius), Kohr, Latza (63' Stöger) – Onisiwo (69' Burkardt), Szalai (69' Glatzel)
Goals: 0-1 Onisiwo (10'),1-1 Stindl (26'), 1-2 Stöger (86')
Yellow cards: Kramer – Kohr
Referee: Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)
Attendance: 0
