A whopping 30 points separated these two sides last season, but they came into this clash with only goal difference keeping Leipzig below Mainz.
The Red Bulls weren’t keen for that to remain the case come full-time though, and started in lightning-quick fashion. Not even a minute was on the clock when the hosts took the lead, with Xavi Simons steering home from close range after Amadou Haidara’s initial effort was sensationally blocked six yards from goal.
The Malian had another chance to get on the scoresheet soon after, but this time he could only fire wide when he ought to have doubled their advantage.
It was largely an onslaught towards the Mainz goal in the first half as the visitors spent most of their time defending. They let their standards slip for a moment midway through the half and were almost punished, but Benjamin Sesko’s effort flew inches wide of the target.
Mainz could surely only improve after the break, and that proved to be true within 10 minutes of the restart when the visitors drew level. Paul Nebel was the provider, working his way to the byline before cutting the ball back for Nadiem Amiri to sweep home.
Mainz’s tails were firmly up by that point, and they came close to moving ahead just moments later when Lee Jae-sung headed narrowly over.
Leipzig didn’t heed that warning, though, and soon found themselves behind for the first time on the afternoon when equalising scorer Amiri was again involved, threading the ball through for Jonathan Burkardt, who swivelled in the area and saw his left-footed effort nestle into the far corner.
Amiri was proving to be the thorn in the hosts’ side, and he could’ve wrapped the game up 15 minutes from time, but his effort crashed back off the post.
That failure to put the game to bed set up a nervy ending for the visitors, but they defended admirably to see out a third successive league win and open up a nice gap over a rival. Leipzig, meanwhile, now have work to do to close the gap to the top four, leaving under-pressure boss Marco Rose under even more scrutiny.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nadiem Amiri (Mainz)
See all the match stats with Flashscore.
