Berlin: Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Christoph Kramer scored a last-minute goal to deny Stuttgart an away win while newly-promoted Paderborn gave away a 2-1 lead sharing the spoils with Mainz to close the first round of the German Bundesliga.
The “Foals” controlled the proceedings Sunday against Stuttgart in the first half but failed to turn their opportunities into any tangible reward. As a consequence clinical Stuttgart stunned the hosts in the 51st minute when Alexandru Maxim broke the deadlock out of the blue from a sharp angle.
Stuttgart defended deep to give Monchengladbach a hard time. The hosts pressed frenetically and were rewarded just before the final whistle as German international Christoph Kramer equalised the scores when he exploited a square pass by Alvaro Dominguez by slotting home from inside the box into the bottom left.
The midfielder secured thus one point for the “Foals” on home soil.
Elsewhere, Mainz’ Ja Cheol Koo snatched his side a last grasp draw when he converted a penalty against courageous newly promoted Paderborn.
Both sides staged a sloppy start but still Mainz were able to score the opener through Shinji Okazaki, who made use of a rebound from close range in the 33rd minute.
It was a short-lived joy for Mainz as newly promoted Paderborn shocked the visitors with the leveller just four minutes later.
Striker Elias Kachunga overcame Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius with a long-range effort into the near post corner, to mark the first goal for Paderborn in Germany’s top-flight division.
Mainz handed over control, as they seemed shocked by Paderborn’ s comeback. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as Paderborn turned the tides in the 85th minute through Uwe Huenemeier, whose header made it 2-1.
It looked like a fairy tale start for the Bundesliga newcomers but Huenemeier fouled in the area at the last minute of the injury time allowing Mainz to restore parity from the spot.
Mainz’ Koo stepped up and converted the penalty into the bottom right to secure his side a late draw. Borussia
