Mainz edge Schalke 2-1 in German Bundesliga

Julian Baumgartlinger' s first Bundesliga goal helped clinical Mainz to beat Schalke 2-1 at the opener of the 21st round on Friday.

Mainz climbed into the top six after clinching a 2-1 victory over fourth-placed Schalke thanks to Baumgartlinger' s late header.

Both sides staged a fast paced encounter with chances at both ends of the pitch in front of 32,107 spectators in the Coface Arena.

However, as soon as the pace of the game faded away, Mainz broke the deadlock through new arrival Gaetan Bussmann, who slotted home a drop kick following a failed clearance attempt by Schalke to mark his first goal for the "Nuellfuenfer" .

Schalke fought back and shocked the hosts immediately after the restart as new arrival Younes Belhanda made use of Max Meyer' s square pass into the box to tap home his premiere goal for the "Royal Blues" .

It wasn' t the last first goal of the night as Mainz' team captain Julian Baumgartlinger headed home the 2-1 winner in the 79th minute to net his first Bundesliga goal in his 112th appearance.

With the victory, Mainz jumped from the 7th to the 5th place. They are now equal on points with 4th placed Schalke.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: runner-up Dortmund face last placed Hannover, newly promoted Darmstadt see Leverkusen, Bremen host relegation threatened Hoffenheim, Stuttgart clash with third placed Berlin, Wolfsburg encounter newly promoted Ingolstadt and Frankfurt visit Cologne. Endit