BERLIN, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Mainz secured their third win of the season after coming from behind on the goals from Jean-Paul Boetius, Robin Quaison and Levin Oztunali at the opener of the 9th round in Bundesliga on Friday.
Cologne pressed the hosts into their own territory in the opening stages. The visitors thought they had opened the scoring with four minutes played but Florian Kainz' goal was ruled offside.
Ten minutes later, Cologne eventually broke the deadlock as Simon Terodde finished off a fine combination with a turn shot from the edge of the box into the far post corner.
The hosts responded well and almost restored parity moments later when Boetius' shot on target forced Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn into action.
Mainz remained on the front foot and got rewarded for their efforts in the 21st minute as Boetius danced through Cologne's defence to tap home from close range.
Sandro Schwarz' men should have bounced back before the break but Quaison and Adam Szalai squandered promising chances.
After the restart, Cologne assumed control but lacked penetration and accuracy to overcome Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner.
Meanwhile the hosts completed their comeback in the 57th minute when Quaison unleashed a long-range hammer to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards.
The visitors tried to respond but they barely posed threat to Zentner, who denied a free kick from Kainz, whereas Mainz were not done with the scoring and sealed the deal in the closing period after Oztunali overcame Horn with a well-placed shot into the near post corner.
With the victory, Mainz climbed to the 13th position while newly promoted Cologne slipped to 16th, which is a relegation play-off spot.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: defending champions Bayern Munich host Union Berlin, Hertha Berlin face Hoffenheim, Freiburg see Leipzig, Schalke encounter Borussia Dortmund, newly-promoted Paderborn meet Fortuna Dusseldorf and Bayer Leverkusen take on Werder Bremen.
