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Bundesliga: Mainz show their mettle to edge out Düsseldorf

November 30, 2018

Mainz sneaked past Fortuna Düsseldorf as two of the Bundesliga's lowest scoring teams locked horns on Friday. The visitors won it by a single goal, leaving the hosts deep in the relegation mire.

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Fussball Bundesliga l Fortuna Düsseldorf vs Mainz 05 - Tor 0:1 - Jean-Philippe Mateta
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/L. Baron

Mainz bounced back from their narrow defeat against Borussia Dortmund with an attritional win at Fortuna Düsseldorf, who couldn't follow up their heroics in Munich.

For long periods this stale contest appeared unlikely to generate a winner as chances came and went, with both sides guilty of missing decent openings.

Mainz came into this game having given Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund a run for their money on Matchday 12 and taking maximum points from their previous two games. That form had seen them rise to 10th in a season when many expecting them to struggle again.

This stodgy game eventually turned on a quick break and a neat finish by Jean-Philippe Mateta. The Frenchman has toiled in front of goal this season, converting only 32% of his shots into goals, but his was able to produce a clinical finish under the advancing Düsseldorf keeper Michael Rensing.

The hosts push for a route back into it with a late onslaught but lacked the firepower to trouble Sandro Schwarz's side, a problem that has plagued Mainz this season, with only Stuttgart finding the net fewer times that Mainz's 12. But this time they did enough to get the points, leaving Düsseldorf deep in the relegation dogfight.