Despite a courageous second half performance in Mainz on Saturday 7^th November, Der Club left empty-handed. But should the hosts have won? Certainly not – an error by the officials denied Peer Kluge a late equalizer as he was wrongly judged to be offside.

The hosts started at full-speed, justifying their league position under the floodlights on a dull afternoon. In just the second minute, an Ivanschitz header so nearly put them in the lead. It was only the fine reflexes of Raphael Schaefer who preserved the status quo as he made yet another wonderful save to add to his extensive collection.

And Schaefer continued to defend the Nuremberg goal resolutely as the half continued. Then in the 36^th minute, Albert Bunjaku was presented with a wonderful opportunity by Bungert. The Mainz player misjudged his back-pass and the Swiss striker pounced but his shot to the right corner of the goal went past the wrong side of the post.

Bunjaku’s miss was swiftly punished. Moments later the hosts were awarded a corner. The danger from the cross was only cleared as far as the edge of the penalty area from where Soko powered the ball goalwards and, with the fortune of a deflection which took the ball out of reach of Schaefer, Mainz 05 were in the lead.

With 1.FCN trailing by this single goal at half-time, they started the second half with full motivation and drive. Bunjaku, recently selected by Swiss national coach Ottmar Hitzfeld for his country’s friendly against Norway, missed his second big chance in the 47^th minute following a pass from strike partner Christian Eigler.

In the 50^th it was Bunjaku who threatened again. As he powered towards goal his legs were taken by Bungert who was rightly booked for the cynical foul.

The temperature was rising and when Bancé clashed with Denis Diekmeier it was the 1.FCN full-back who suffered most, having to be replaced by Juri Judt. Bancé was then booked after a tangle with Der Club centre-back Andreas Wolf.

 
In the 71st coach Michael Oenning minutes brought two fresh players into the game: Dario Vidosic and Maxim Choupo-Moting, emphasizing the forward push. In the 88^th minute, a 1.FCN corner was not completerly cleared by Mainz. As the defenders pushed out, the ball was sent back into the penalty area. Kluge arrived from deep and propelled the ball into the goal. Referee Michael Kempter ruled offside - once again a wrong decision that shook Der Club to the core! The courageous play was not rewarded and the hosts held on to take the three points.

About the disallowed goal, defender Dominic Maroh told the press, “This is a very annoying theme which runs like a thread through our games.”

Coach Michael Oenning stated, "At the end it is a result with which we can not be satisfied. We have done everything to take something from the game… Unfortunately, we have not taken the scoring chances we made.”

Freiburg visited the easyCredit Stadion on 28^th November and 40,000 fans witnessed them take all of the points from a lacklustre game. With Raphael Schaefer serving the first of a four game ban, Alexander Stephan stepped into the goals but was unable to prevent the visitors winning 1-0.

Stephan made a good start. A 7^th minute corner provided a test for the 23-year-old and he saved well from a headed attempt.

However, in the 12^th minute, another corner was not completely cleared. The ball came back into the danger area and the Nuremberg defence failed to pick-up Reisinger who gave Freiburg the lead from close range.

Despite a plenty of chances for Der Club, Freiburg held on to their lead throughout the remainder of the game. Nuremberg nearly snatched an equalizer in the last minute when Maxim Choupo-Moting connected with an Eigler shot, but his header struck the crossbar and the points went to the visitors despite 1.FCN having had 20 shots and 69% of the possession.