Borussia Monchengladbach's survival hopes suffered a major blow as they lost 1-0 to Mainz.
Schurrle seals 1-0 success for European contenders Mainz
Borussia Monchengladbach's survival hopes suffered a major blow as they lost 1-0 to Mainz on Friday night.
The Bundesliga's bottom club were four points adrift of safety at kick-off but had been buoyed by an emphatic 5-1 victory over Cologne in their last match.
Mainz, by contrast, had gone four games without a win but were still flying high in fifth, the final European qualifying position.
There was nothing to separate the teams in a goalless first half but Gladbach's task became much more difficult eight minutes after the restart when striker Mike Hanke was sent off for a second bookable offence.
It looked like Gladbach would still hang on for a crucial point, but three minutes from time Andre Schurrle struck a winner for Mainz.
Gladbach now have just four more games to stage a dramatic late escape, but could find themselves in more trouble after the rest of the weekend's action.
