Mainz rallies from behind twice, then beats Gladbach 4-3 on a stoppage-time penalty

Seven goals, a stoppage-time penalty and a Borussia Monchengladbach side still stuck without a win. The home team came back twice and still walked away empty-handed, falling 3-4 to Mainz 05 at the ista-Borussia-Park in a Bundesliga clash decided deep into added time.

The opening stretch gave no hint of what was coming. Florian Neuhaus put Monchengladbach ahead in the 10th minute with a low shot from the middle of the box, set up by Lukas Ullrich. The lead lasted seven minutes: Phillip Tietz leveled things with a close-range left-footed finish off a pass from Sheraldo Becker, and right at the end of the first half, in the 45th minute, Becker himself made it 1-2 with a header into the top corner that sent Mainz into the locker room in front.

The second half opened with the home side searching for a response, and that urgency cost Mainz: in the 53rd minute, Phillip Tietz handled the ball inside the box, with VAR confirming the penalty a minute later. Isac Lidberg made no mistake from the spot, drawing it level at 2-2 in the 58th minute, with Ullrich picking up another assist.

The game looked like it might swing the home team's way from there, but Mainz struck again from a set piece. Eric Martel got up for a point-blank header in the 77th minute to make it 2-3 off a corner kick, and eleven minutes later Danny da Costa, who had come on for the injured Anthony Caci, finished off another corner with his left foot to put Mainz ahead 2-4. Monchengladbach still had one more chapter left: in the 92nd minute, Eric Martel handled the ball inside his own box, and this time it was Shuto Machino who converted the penalty in the 94th minute for the final 3-4, leaving no time for anything else.

By the numbers

The stats point to a tight contest, with Mainz slightly sharper in the final third and Monchengladbach controlling possession without turning it into goals.

The xG estimate based on the shots taken in the match ends up nearly even: 3.46 for Monchengladbach against 3.45 for Mainz, a sign that both sides created enough danger for a high-scoring game, though the finishing touch in the box ultimately tipped things in the visitors' favor.

The pre-match odds had favored Mainz by a modest margin: 41% chance of an away win versus 31% for the home side and 28% for a draw, with expected total goals set at 2.73. The final result, with seven goals between the two sides, blew well past that projection, though the outcome itself, a Mainz win, was still the most likely scenario according to those odds.

What it means in the standings

Mainz 05 came into this match in fifth place with 7 points from 4 games played (two wins, one draw and one loss), and the win in Monchengladbach keeps that run going. The blow lands harder on the home side: Borussia Monchengladbach closed out its fourth match of the season without a single point, now sitting at four defeats in four outings, with a 7-point gap separating it from Mainz in the table. A seven-goal game that, far from rewarding the comeback effort, ended up punishing the same team all over again.