FSV Mainz 05 has put another damper on the international ambitions of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

The Rheinhessen celebrated a 2-0 (0-0) win on the 21st match day of the Bundesliga and stayed home without conceding a goal for the fourth time in a row – that has never happened in Mainz Bundesliga history.

Joker Jae-Sung Lee in the 79th minute and captain Moussa Niakhaté (83rd) with a penalty kick scored in front of 6800 spectators on Saturday for the home side, who moved further away from the lower region of the table with 30 points.

Hoffenheim missed the possible jump to a place in the Champions League due to their fourth competitive defeat in a row and is eighth with 31 points.

During a minute's silence, both teams, who played with black ribbons, commemorated the police officers who were murdered in Rhineland-Palatinate at the beginning of the week.

After that, the home side in particular initially had difficulties concentrating on football.

The uncertainty after several negative experiences before the two-week league break was clearly noticeable in the Mainz team.

Both lacked speed and creativity

TSG, on the other hand, got off to a good start.

The guests put pressure on from the start and could have taken the lead early on.

Georginio Rutter, who replaced Christoph Baumgartner in the starting XI, hit the post with a header in the fourth minute.

After a quarter of an hour, Mainz, who had acted nervously and incorrectly for long stretches, suddenly cheered – if only for a few seconds.

Striker Jonathan Burkardt was able to beat TSG goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, but was just offside beforehand.

After all, the home side were now a little braver offensively.

However, Burkardt did not have more than three half-chances before the break.

Forced to shine day

Most of the game took place between the penalty areas.

Both teams lacked the pace and creativity to seriously embarrass opposing defences.

So there was boredom instead of spectacle, which this duel had often offered in the past.

Even after the change, the guests got off to a better start.

Munas Dabbur (47') hit the post with his head again - it was the Kraichgauer's 14th goal from aluminum this season.

Shortly thereafter, Andrej Kramaric failed to FSV goalkeeper Robin Zentner.

This time, the Mainzers didn't owe an offensive response for so long.

Anton Stach (52') forced Baumann into the first brilliant act of the game in the TSG goal.

And Karim Onisiwo didn't put the ball in the goal from close range either.

After all, the defensive luck remained true to Mainz when a shot from Ihlas Bebou (65th) only landed on the side netting.

In the final phase, Mainz were wide awake and celebrated three important points.