FSV Mainz 05 3- 1 VfB Stuttgart

Bundesliga         4^th November 2011          KO: 19:30             Ground: Coface Arena   Att: 34,000

FSV Mainz 05: Christian Wetklo, Ulreich, Kirchhoff, Bungert, Polanski, Caligiuri, Pospech, Ivanschitz (Choupo-Moting, 73), Soto, Baumgartlinger, Ujah, Müller (Yunus 82, Fathi, 87)     

VfB Stuttgart: Ulreich, Maza, Tasci, Molinaro (Traore, 66), Boulahrouz, Kuzmanovic, Kvist, Cacau, Hajnal (Gentner 82), Okazaki (Hemlein, 64), Harnik.

Three second half goals in ten minutes see Mainz end winless run.

Three goals in the space of ten minutes give Mainz first win in nine matches as both sides have a man sent off in a thrilling second period, in which Mainz were controversially awarded a penalty.

The first half was comparatively even with Mainz starting the brighter before Stuttgart began to play with the confidence of a team that had tasted defeat only once in the past seven games. It was Mainz though who came closest to breaking the deadlock, Andreas Ivanshitz burst into the box, but his goal bound effort was cleared by Khalid Boulahrouz.

The second half was a far more entertaining affair; Cacau put the visitors ahead when he raced into the area to meet the impressive Martin Harnik’s low cross to beat Christian Wetklo from six yards.

The lead only lasted four minutes before Anthony Ujah out jumped Maza to nod in Elkin Soto’s cross. The game then changed completely in the space of nine minutes, first Mainz were awarded a very soft penalty when Maza was adjudged to trip Nicolai, who himself did not even appeal.

Ivanshitz duly dispatched the resulting spot kick before capping an excellent individual performance by heading down a cross into the path of Ujah who took advantage of a mix up between defender and keeper to slot into an empty net.

There was still time for nerves to set in for home supporters when Polanski was shown a harsh red card for a tackle on Hemlein that only warranted a yellow as Stuttgart pressed to get back into the game. Hemlein himself then miss kicked from only three yards out as the ten men defended admirably to keep Stuttgart at bay.

Several Stuttgart players then proceeded to lose their heads after the final whistle surrounding the referee, in protest of the crucial penalty decision awarded to Mainz. The result of which was a needless red card for Maza to add to the frustration of the away team who missed the chance to move up to second in the table.

George Hardy