Mainz 05 have produced a solid home performance to beat struggling Nuremberg 2-0 in the Bundesliga, which keeps the away side in the bottom two.
Mainz started the game brightly and had two early sights of goal, but both Timothy Chandler and Stefan Bell had their efforts inside the first five minutes blocked.
It remained a dominant display from the home team and they came very close on 20 minutes as Elkin Soto's shot from outside the box fizzed narrowly over the bar.
Then finally on the half-hour mark the hosts were ahead. Shinji Okazaki was the quickest to react to Johannes Geis's free kick from the wing and he made no mistake planting home a header.
Just before the break Mainz had the second goal that their play deserved. This time Christoph Moritz fired in from the middle of the box following a corner, and they were able to hold on for the points.
Matt Domm
