Anthony Ujah hit a brace as Mainz picked up their first Bundesliga win since mid-August with a 3-1 victory at home to Stuttgart.
Late red card fails to rain on Mainz parade
Anthony Ujah hit a brace as Mainz picked up their first Bundesliga win since mid-August with a 3-1 victory at home to Stuttgart on Friday night.
Not even a red card for Eugen Polanski was able to stop Thomas Tuchel's side from halting a slide which had had lasted nearly three months since their last triumph over Freiburg on August 13th.
Cacau put Stuttgart in front in the 50th minute, but Ujah was on target twice and Andreas Ivanschitz scored a penalty as the home side moved three points clear of the drop zone in front of another sell-out crowd.
The visitors' let their frustrations get the better of them after the final whistle and Francisco Maza was shown the red card for confronting the referee as Mainz began celebrating a long overdue win.
For much of the first half it did not look like either side would be able to score, let alone win.
The closest either side came was in the 37th minute when Ivanschitz got past Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, but his shot towards goal was cleared by Khalid Boulahrouz.
Cacau put the visitors ahead five minutes into the second half when he raced into the penalty area to meet Martin Harnik's low cross and beat Christian Wetklo from six yards out.
Equaliser
Stuttgart's lead lasted only three minutes, though, before Ujah equalised with his first-ever Bundesliga goal.
Elkin Soto crossed the ball from the left and Ujah beat Maza in the air to head Mainz level.
The home side were given the chance to go in front on the hour mark when Maza was rather harshly adjudged to have fouled Nicolai Muller inside the penalty area.
Ivanschitz sent the spot-kick into the bottom corner to give Mainz a rare lead this season.
And Ujah made sure the points stayed in Mainz as he added a third four minutes later, this time pushing the ball past Ulreich as he raced from his goal to meet him, and then knocking it into the vacated goal.
Polanski was shown a red card in the 83rd minute for a dangerous tackle from behind on Christoph Hemlein, but there did not appear to be any real risk of the home side losing their nerve in the last seven minutes.
In fact, it was Stuttgart who lost theirs once the final whistle was blown and Maza was picked out among a group of players who surrounded the referee to protest, and he was shown the red card, compounding the misery on a disappointing night for Bruno Labbadia's men.
