Mainz beat Wolfsburg to move into top half of Bundesliga
Mainz moved into the top half of the Bundesliga after inflicting a 2-0 defeat on third-placed Wolfsburg.
After Wolfsburg's Julian Draxler was shown an early red card Pablo De Blasis gave the hosts the lead, capitalising on a mistake by goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.
Yunus Malli added a second in the 75th minute to complete Mainz's win.
Wolfsburg were reduced to 10 men in the 14th minute when Draxler went in with his foot high and caught Gonzalo Jara on his head, the referee judging it dangerous enough to brandish a straight red.
A mistake by Benaglio then gifted Mainz the lead. The Swiss goalkeeper could not hold Jairo Samperio's cross and instead touched the ball down for De Blasis, who scored from close range.
Benaglio dropped a couple more crosses and was lucky there were no takers, while Naldo almost diverted the ball into his own goal as Wolfsburg seemed intent on shooting themselves in the foot again.
At the other end, chances were few and far between, with Draxler's invention missing and nobody prepared to take on his mantle.
One goal looked set to be enough for Mainz to take the points, but they added a second for good measure with 15 minutes remaining.
Malli's low shot found the bottom left-hand corner, earning him his seventh goal of the season.
Borussia Monchengladbach caretaker coach Andre Schubert's winning streak was brought to an end by Ingolstadt, who snatched a point from a 0-0 draw at the Borussia Park Stadion.
The Foals had won all six league matches since Schubert replaced Lucien Favre after five straight defeats, but his side could not find the key to unlock Ingolstadt's defence.
Gladbach also ended the game with 10 men with Granit Xhaka shown a second yellow card late on, moments before Thorgan Hazard saw arguably the best chance of the game saved expertly by Ramazan Ozcan.
The draw leaves Gladbach, whose hopes of progress in the Champions League were ended on Tuesday, in sixth position while Ingolstadt remain in mid-table.
Huub Stevens' first home match in charge of Hoffenheim ended in a 0-0 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt as the hosts were left still waiting for their first win in front of their own fans this term.
While Stevens saw his side keep the clean sheet he craved, he will also have seen plenty of room for improvement as his struggling side were lucky to come away with a point.
Frankfurt created the better chances at the Rhein-Neckar Arena, Aleksandar Ignjovski wasting the best from close range.
The Eagles could also have had a penalty in the first half, while goalkeeper Oliver Baumann came to Hoffenheim's rescue on numerous occasions.
