In-form Bundesliga duo Mainz and Hamburg share the spoils

Fabio Viera celebrates his goal

Hamburg made it six matches unbeaten in the Bundesliga (W2, D4) with a 1-1 draw against Mainz, who have now lost just two of their 12 matches in all competitions since Urs Fischer took the helm.

A strong Mainz start was quickly halted by the visitors, who slowed down the pace and began to control proceedings.

Hamburg then spawned some chances of their own, with Warmed Omari firing one from the edge of the area, only to see his shot parried by the capable palms of Daniel Batz.

Robert Glatzel was next to try his luck, but put his effort too close to the Mainz stopper, which only added to the sense that Hamburg’s continual misses might lead to a Mainz sucker punch.

Almost poetically, his side was ultimately made to pay when the hosts took an unlikely lead in the run-up to half-time. Danny da Costa’s marauding run down the right-hand side resulted in a cross to the near side of the six-yard box, where Nadiem Amiri guided a hooked volley inside the far post – the Mainz talisman’s seventh strike in as many Bundesliga appearances.

Sadly for Mainz, however, they couldn’t build on that after half-time, and began to chase the play, as well as giving away needless fouls, with Dominik Kohr fortunate not to see a second yellow card.

And it was that lack of discipline which ultimately led to Hamburg’s equaliser – Fabio Vieira tried to find the near post by slotting under the wall from a 25-yard free kick, but Phillipp Mwene got in the way and inadvertently deflected it towards the other post and past a wrong-footed Batz.

It could have gone either way after that, though Sheraldo Becker probably had the best chance to win it for the home side with a looping volley which just missed the far post.

With both sides in good form and looking up the table rather than down it, the point will be generally well received in both camps.

Remarkably, this is now Hamburg’s longest undefeated run in the top flight since 2011, when they went nine without defeat under Thorsten Fink. Naturally though, a home clash against RB Leipzig to start March will provide a stern test of Hamburg’s ongoing streak.

Meanwhile, Mainz’s quest to pull away from the bottom three also remains truly alive – they’ve now lost just once in five outings.

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