A solitary penalty from Moritz Hartmann was enough to earn Ingolstadt a win to open up their 2016. Despite their best efforts Mainz just couldn't get going and will be hoping for a much more convincing performance next weekend.
There were changes aplenty in the Ingolstadt line-up, as Ralph Hasenhüttl named a near full strength team. He made five changes from the defeat to Bayer Leverkusen before the break, as Ramazan Özcan, Benjamin Hübner, Robert Bauer, Moritz Hartmann and Elias Kachunga came in for Örjan Nyland, Romain Brégerie, Danilo Soares, Almog Cohen and Stefan Lex.
Mainz and Markus Schmidt were much more reserved when it came to alterations, although they did opt for two switches following their loss against Hertha BSC on the final day of the Hinrunde. Leon Balogun, Gaëtan Bussmann and Jhon Cordoba were handed starts in place of Stefan Bell, Pierre Bengtsson and Yoshinori Muto.
Tough start
In what was a largely even and unspectacular start, both sides had their chances to open the scoring. Cordoba looked set to open the scoring but the offside flag prevented him from going through on goal. Another opportunity fell the way of Mainz and Yunus Malli, though his powerful effort was blocked by an unsuspecting team-mate.
Ingolstadt had the best chance of all and should have nabbed the opening goal after 20 minutes. A good ball into the box wasn't dealt with by the defence, though Hartmann was able to stab the ball goalwards and onto the bar. The rebound fell for Alfredo Morales and the American couldn't quite force it home.
Hartmann edges Ingolstadt ahead
The home side's pressure eventually paid dividends at the end of the half, as Pascal Groß' shot struck the arm of Stefan Bell. Florian Meyer pointed to the spot, although it looked a tad harsh given that he was trying to pull his arms away. Nevertheless, Hartmann confidently stepped up and stroked the ball into the left corner, sending Loris Karius the wrong way.
Mainz had a late chance to draw level with the final kick of the half, as a clever exchange between Malli and Christian Clemens on the edge of the area saw the latter arrow a shot towards the bottom corner. Özcan somehow managed to pull it away from goal, signaling the end of the first half.
The second half provided little in the way of excitement for either team but the best opportunity came for the visitors. Clemens fed Malli in a role reversal from the first period but the Turkish international couldn't find the finish. That was the final major effort of the game with the wing brining Ingolstadt within a point of Mainz. Both sides sit in mid-table.