BERLIN: Suat Serdar's equaliser helped Mainz draw 1-1 with Frankfurt on home soil at the opener of the 10th round in Bundesliga.
Frankfurt have extended their unbeaten run to five games as an own goal from Mainz' Stefan Bell was enough to snatch a draw on the road, reports Xinhua news agency.
Both sides ensured a lively encounter in the opening period yet both attacking lines were unable to produce clear-cut goal scoring opportunities.
Things changed in the 37th minute when Mainz failed to clear a ball from the goal line allowing Marius Wolf to bring a low pass into the area where Stefan Ball deflected the ball into the wrong goal to open the scoring for the visitors.
After the restart, Frankfurt focused on their defence work and counter attacks, trying to protect their narrow lead to the end.
Things almost worked out in Frankfurt's favour but Ante Rebic failed to double the lead against Mainz' goalkeeper Robin Zentner, who was on guard to deny the effort in the 48th minute, from sharp angle.
The "Eagles" failed to clear a corner and invited Mainz to level the scores as substitute Suat Serdar slotted home from six meters to upset the visitors.
With the draw, Mainz climbed on the 11th position of the Bundesliga standings while Frankfurt remain on the 7th place.
"We had problems to work out promising opportunities in the first half. We improved our performance after the restart. The 1-1 draw is a fair result at the end of the day," Mainz' skipper Stefan Bell said.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: newly promoted Hannover encounter Borussia Dortmund, runner up Bayern Munich host Leipzig, Hoffenheim clash with Borussia Monchengladbach, Hertha Berlin face Hamburg, Schalke see Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen meet bottom side Cologne.