Ingolstadt defeats Mainz 2-1 to boost hopes of avoiding drop

Ingolstadt defeated fellow struggler Mainz 2-1 at home yesterday to maintain some hope of avoiding Bundesliga relegation.

Romain Bregerie headed Ingolstadt in front early on from the home side's third corner of the game.

Mainz improved after the break and Levin Oztunali claimed the equaliser with a free kick in the 70th minute, only for Florent Hadergjonaj to restore Ingolstadt’s lead three minutes later when his cross sailed in above Mainz ‘keeper Jonas Loessl.

Ingolstadt remained second from bottom, seven points from safety with eight games remaining. Only goal difference was keeping Mainz out of the relegation zone after its third straight defeat.

Wolfsburg forward Mario Gomez scored a rapid hat trick before 17-year-old Kai Havertz equalised for Bayer Leverkusen in a frenetic finale to their 3-3 draw yesterday.

Gomez thought he’d capped a stunning turnaround when he completed his hat trick in a seven-minute span to continue his remarkable record of scoring in every game under Wolfsburg coach Andries Jonker — but Havertz salvaged a point for Leverkusen with a minute remaining.

Havertz had already set up Kevin Volland for Leverkusen’s second goal midway through the second half, minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Yesterday Ingolstadt-Mainz 05 ......................... 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen-Wolfsburg ........... 3-3

Standings

P W D L F APts Bayern Munich 26 20 5 1 67 13 65 RB Leipzig 26 16 4 6 47 28 52 Hoffenheim 26 12 12 2 49 26 48 Dortmund 26 13 8 5 55 28 47 Hertha Berlin 26 12 4 10 35 33 40 FC Cologne 26 9 10 7 38 31 37 E. Frankfurt 26 10 7 9 26 27 37 SC Freiburg 26 10 5 11 34 47 35 Schalke 26 9 7 10 38 28 34 B. M’gladbach 26 9 6 11 30 34 33 B. Leverkusen 26 9 5 12 40 43 32 W. Bremen 26 9 5 12 39 46 32 Wolfsburg 26 8 6 12 26 37 30 Hamburg 26 8 6 12 26 47 30 FSV Mainz 26 8 5 13 34 43 29 FC Augsburg 26 7 8 11 24 40 29 Ingolstadt 26 6 4 16 25 43 22 Darmstadt 26 4 3 19 17 51 15