Sunday 11 September 2016 20:49, UK
An eight-goal thriller brought the second round of Bundesliga action to a conclusion on Sunday with Mainz and Hoffenheim scoring four each.
Mainz, who were looking for their first points of the season after losing to Borussia Dortmund a fortnight ago, appeared to be cruising to victory when goals from Pablo De Blasis (two) and Jhon Cordoba gave them a commanding lead.
Even when Sandro Wagner pulled one back for the visitors, Levin Oztunali added Mainz's fourth before the break.
They nevertheless picked up just one point, with a red card for Gaetan Bussmann playing into Hoffenheim's hands, with Mark Uth bringing them to within a goal of their hosts with a quick-fire brace.
Former Mainz forward Adam Szalai then scored a late equaliser, preserving Hoffenheim's unbeaten start to the season and leaving Mainz with just one point from a game they led twice by three goals.
In Sunday's other game, Augsburg came from behind to turn the heat up on Werder Bremen coach Viktor Skripnik with a 2-1 win in northern Germany.
An Aron Johannsson penalty was not enough to earn Bremen their first win of the season as goals from Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Konstantinos Stafylidis turned the tables on their hosts, who have now lost three games in a row, including in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
