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Mainz (Germany) (AFP) – Mainz provided a clear service to Borussia Dortmund, second in the German Football League, by dropping its direct chaser and its guest Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 on Friday at the opening of the twenty-third stage competitions.
Mainz, who was late 1-2, turned the table on Leverkusen in 5 minutes by scoring two goals through Dutch substitutes Jean-Paul Poetius (84) and Danish Marcus Ingvarsten (88), while Spaniard Aaron Martin Karicol (57) scored the first goal for his team.
The goals for Leverkusen were scored by the Czech Patrick Shaik (35) and his Argentine substitute, Lucas Alario (74).
Mainz stopped Leverkusen’s series of victories at 4 in a row, knowing that the latter did not taste loss in its last five matches (a 2-2 draw with its guest Union Berlin), to freeze its balance in third place at 41 points, 5 points behind Dortmund, which receives Borussia Moenchengladbach Sunday in its quest to move away more in the rankings.
Mainz climbed to seventh place with 34 points and denied Leverkusen to reduce the difference to two points from Borussia Dortmund, which hosts Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday at the end of the stage, where 5 points remain and can be expanded to 8 points in case of victory.
Bayer Leverkusen suffered its first loss in the second leg of the Bundesliga, knowing that it aims to return to the Champions League, which it reached for the last time in the 2019-2020 season.
Striker Schick opened the scoring for Bayer Leverkusen in the 35th minute, scoring his 20th goal this season in the “Bundesliga”, before leaving at the beginning of the second half due to a foot injury (49).
Mainz equalized through defender Karikol (57), while the referee canceled a goal for Austrian striker Karim Onisevo after three minutes for offending French captain Moussa Nyakate, after the video assistant referee (VAR).
Alario, Chic’s substitute, returned the advantage to his team by scoring the second goal in the 74th minute after a pass from French striker Moussa Diaby.
However, the course of the match changed between the 84th and 88th minutes, after Mainz managed to score two killer goals through the substitutes Boetius, two minutes after he entered the field, in the place of Dominic Kohr, and Ingvarsten, 6 minutes after he replaced Unicevo.
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