Mainz defeated Nuremberg 2-1 at home in the Bundesliga tonight.
Nicolai Muller opened the scoring for the home side after just 12 minutes and Andreas Ivanschitz doubled their advantage in the 21st minute.
Although Per Nilsson halved the deficit in the 40th minute to set up a pulsating second 45 minutes at the Coface Arena, Mainz held on for maximum points in front of their own supporters.
It was an exciting game of football, and here Sports Mole takes a closer look to see if the result was fair.
Match statistics:
Mainz:
Shots 12
On target 2
Possession 52%
Corners 3
Fouls 17
Nuremberg:
Shots 10
On target 3
Possession 48%
Corners 6
Fouls 21
Was the result fair?
Yes. Mainz deserved to win on the balance of play. They were the better side overall as Nuremberg asserted themselves only in certain spells over a small period of time.
Mainz's performance
Mainz moved the ball very quickly and used the flanks deftly. Striker Adam Szalai was uncharacteristically quiet tonight, but the other attacking players rose to the challenge. Thomas Tuchel's side did leave space at the back from time to time, though.
Nuremberg's performance
Nuremberg did well to recover after conceding two goals midway through the first half, with Hiroshi Kiyotake once again proving himself to be a valuable asset down the right side of the midfield. However, the visitors played largely in patches and lacked imagination in crafting the final ball to split open the Mainz defence,
Sports Mole's man of the match
Nicolai Muller: The 25-year-old was a livewire in the attacking department for Mainz in the opening minutes of the first half and took his goal well. As the match progressed, he drifted in and out of the game, but time and again in the second half the midfielder would pop up in dangerous positions to either create chances for his teammates or shoot at the Nuremberg goal.
Referee's performance
Thorsten Kinhofer displayed a very professional performance tonight. He made his decisions wisely and allowed the game to go on smoothly. When things threatened to boil over in the 79th minute, he kept a cool head and stepped in to separate the two sets of players at the right time.
What next?
Mainz: Mainz are away at Hamburg in the Bundesliga next weekend.
Nuremberg: Nuremberg will hope to recover from tonight's defeat with a home win against Bayern Munich, but that will be far from easy.
Subhankar Mondal
