BERLIN: Mainz 05 threw away a three-goal lead in a thrilling 4-4 home draw against Hoffenheim as Werder Bremen lost 2-1 to Augsburg to stay bottom of the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Mainz, who meet French side St Etienne in Europa League action Thursday, looked on course for a rout with a Pablo De Blasis double on three and 23 minutes followed by another from Jhon Cordoba on 27.

Sandro Wagner reduced the deficit for Hoffenheim on 39 minutes with Levin Oztunali getting the hosts’ fourth two minutes before the break.

French defender Gaetan Bussmann was sent off after the break and his absence derailed the hosts with Mark Uth netting twice in the space of two minutes (71, 72) with Adam Szalai getting the equaliser on 84.

In Bremen, the arrival of Serge Gnabry from Arsenal failed to lift the northerners who remain rock bottom after two games with eight goals conceded and the future of Ukrainian coach Viktor Skripnik in doubt.

The defeat came after a 6-0 rout by Bayern Munich on the opening weekend of the league, and Bremen were also knocked out in the first round of the German Cup by a third-division side.

A penalty from Aron Johannsson just before the break gave Bremen a halftime lead but Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Konstantinos Stafylidis scored for Augsburg to celebrate its first league win of the season.

Published in Dawn September 13th, 2016