Burkardt strikes again but Mainz held by Cologne

Mainz 1-1 Cologne
Goals: 1-0 Burkardt (43'), 1-1 Özcan 47' (assist: Uth)

Two sides that love a good knees-up, Carnival clubs Mainz and Cologne - either side of mid-table at the start of the contest - played their part in a furious opening. Ondrej Duda set the tone with a shot straight at Robin Zentner, before Mainz captain Moussa Niakhate sent a header from a corner wide. Duda should have given Cologne the lead with 20 minutes gone, but blazed over after his initial effort had been saved. Luca Kilian was guilty of missing another gilt-edged opening, and paid the price as Burkardt cut inside of the Mainz loanee and fired the 05ers into a half-time lead.

Cologne’s task was made harder by an injury to top scorer and star striker Anthony Modeste just before the interval, but whatever head coach Steffen Baumgart said to his team at the break had the desired effect. Within two minutes of the restart, Özcan met a Mark Uth free-kick to bring the Billy Goats deservedly level. Cologne largely succeeded in keeping Mainz at arm’s length thereafter, but struggled to create clear-cut openings of their own. The only real sniff fell the way of substitute Sebastian Andersson, who was denied a shot at Timo Horn's goal by a superb recovery challenge from Niakhate. Killian did a similar number on Burkardt, whilst Horn thwarted an Adam Szalai volley as the spoils were shared.

• Burkardt has produced five goals and an assist in his last five league games.
• Modeste had scored Cologne's last four goals, before Özcan broke the trend with his first of the Bundesliga season.
• Bo Svensson has claimed 51 points in 32 matches as Mainz head coach. Only Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig have collected more across that period.
• Indeed, Mainz have accrued eight points from the last 12 on offer. Four games unbeaten is a first for the 05ers this season.
• The Billy Goats have only won one of their last seven meetings with Mainz - a 1-0 away victory last season.
• Jean-Paul Boetius made his 100th Bundesliga appearance, while Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn featured for the 200th time in Germany's top flight.

Watch: Niakhate: “Burkardt deserves his goals”

Mainz: Zentner - Bell, Hack, Niakhate (c) - Widmer, Lee (Stach 60'), Kohr (Barreiro 34'), Boetius (Stöger 60'), Martin - Burkardt, Onisiwo (Szalai 77')
Unused subs: Dahmen, Brosinski, Nemeth, Nebel, Ingvartsen
Out: Lucoqui (knee), St. Juste (shoulder)
Coach: Bo Svensson

Cologne: T. Horn - Schmitz, Kilian, Czichos, Hector (c) - Özcan - Duda (Schaub 81'), Ljubicic, Kainz (Thielmann 81') - Uth (Skhiri 67'), Modeste (Andersson 45'+3)
Unused subs: Schwäbe, Hübers, Ehizibue, Mere, Schindler
Out: J. Horn (hip)
Coach: Steffen Baumgart

Watch: Duda: “I’m happy with the point”