Robin Quaison (L) of Mainz vies with Nordi Mukiele of Leipzig during the Bundesliga match between FSV Mainz 05 and RB Leipzig in Mainz, Germany, May 3, 2019. The match ended in a 3-3 draw. (Xinhua/Ulrich Hufnagel)
BERLIN, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Lukas Klostermann's brace wasn't enough for Leipzig after Mainz fought back to secure a 3-3 draw at the curtain raiser of the 32nd round in Bundesliga on Friday.
Leipzig missed the chance to extend their winning streak to seven games as resilient Mainz rallied back from two goals down to snatch a vital draw on Jean-Philippe Mateta's late equalizer.
Mainz grabbed a bright start into the encounter but the visitors broke the deadlock with their very first chance of the game as Timo Werner's square pass allowed Klostermann to slot home the opener with 20 minutes played.
Both sides exchange chances at either of the pitch but Leipzig doubled the lead with their second opportunity in the 32nd minute when Klostermann lobbed the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Florian Mueller.
Despite suffering the second goal against, Mainz remained active and pulled one back before the break after Karim Onisiwo unleashed a turn-shot from the edge of the box in the 43rd minute.
Mainz came out with their guns blazing after the restart but Leipzig shocked the hosts again in the 49th minute when Timo Werner danced through the box to make it 3-1 on the scoreboards.
With the two goal lead behind, Leipzig defended deep and kept all their men behind the ball to make Mainz' life difficult.
The hosts lacked in ideas to overcome Leipzig well-positioned defence and had to wait until the 67th minute before Moussa Niakhate capitalized on a rebound following a corner to reduce the arrears to 3-2.
Mainz gained momentum and restored parity in the 83rd minute when Jean-Paul Boetius set up for Jean-Philippe Mateta, who curled the ball into the far post corner.
Both sides had the chance to score the decider in the dying minutes of the game but neither Mainz' Robin Quaison nor Leipzig's Klostermann were able to wrap up all three points.
With the result, Leipzig remain on the third place meanwhile Mainz stay on the 12th position of the standings.
"I am not satisfied with the result. We should have scored more goals and we did not defend very well. We therefore were not able to grab a win," Leipzig's head coach Ralf Rangnick said.
"We made a good game. We lacked in accuracy but we showed great mentality. Of course we are delighted about the one point," Mainz' head coach Sandro Schwarz said.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: leaders Bayern host last placed Hannover, Monchengladbach face Hoffenheim, Berlin encounter Stuttgart, Wolfsburg see Nuremberg and Bremen clash with runner up Dortmund.
