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Mateta at the double but Mainz lose to Borussia Monchengladbach
Die Nullfunfer were heading for their first win of the season thanks to the striker’s first-half double, but they were poor in the second-half
Jean-Philippe Mateta found the net twice but Mainz lost 3-2 at home to Borussia Monchengladbach in Saturday’s Bundesliga outing.
The striker of Congolese descent had given Jan-Moritz Lichte’s men the lead after recovering from a goal deficit, however, a lethargic second-half display cost them the result.
In the five-goal thriller, the first chance fell to Mainz after 60 seconds, nevertheless, Robin Quaison was unable to convert Jean-Paul Boetius’ pass. On the other side, Patrick Herrmann forced a good save from goalkeeper Robin Zentner.
Notwithstanding, Monchengladbach took the lead after 15 minutes through Lars Stindl who converted a headed pass from Breel Embolo.
Eight minutes later, Mateta levelled matters for the hosts thanks to good work from Quaison. He completed his brace in the 36th minute with Levin Oztunali providing the assist.
In the second half, Mainz put their feet off the pedal and that resulted in the Foals dominating ball possession in their search for an equaliser. 14 minutes from full time, Jonas Hofmann equalised from the penalty spot after Moussa Niakhate had fouled a goal-bound Marcus Thuram.
Seven minutes from full-time, defender Matthias Ginte had the final say after his compatriot Hofmann headed the ball into his path.
23-year-old Mateta who has now scored three goals so far in the 2020-21 campaign was in action from start to finish, while Cameroonian midfielder Pierre Kunde was substituted in the 65th minute for Leandro Barreiro. Ghana's Issah Abass was not listed for the clash by interim manager Lichte.
Guinea's Ibrahima Traore and Algeria international Ramy Bensebaini were unused substitutes by the visiting Foals.
With this defeat, Mainz have now lost all five games so far this season to sit at the base of the German top-flight with zero points. They would be hoping for redemption when they travel to Augsburg on October 31.
For Borussia Monchengladbach - who are now unbeaten in their last five games across all competitions, they move to fifth spot after garnering 10 points from the same number of matches. They host RB Leipzig in their next league outing but before then, they take on Spanish giants Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Despite featuring for France at U19 and U21 levels, Mateta remains eligible to represent DR Congo at senior level.
