Half time: 1 - 0
Full time: 2 - 0
Shots: 14 - 11
Shots on target: 3 - 0
Corner Kicks: 4 - 4
Possession: 50% - 50%
Janik Haberer and Manuel Guide were booked for the visitors, whilst the home sides Leon Balogun also had his name taken by referee Guido Winkmann.
It's tough to win a match without having a single shot on target, and much like almost every other side who has employed such a strategy before, it didn't work for Freiburg here. In truth they matched Mainz in just about every other category, but were simply incapable of providing a legitimate goal threat on the night.
Despite the significance of this win, we suspect that what this match will ultimately be remembered for is one of the most controversial VAR incidents to date.
Not much of note in the first half, although Mainz were undoubtedly the better side and did deserve their lead at the break. The manner in which it came about though was truly bizarre.
A penalty was initially awarded for a handball by Marc-Oliver Kempf, only to then by overruled upon consultation with VAR. Off the players went to the dressing room, only to be hauled back onto the pitch again as the officials decided that it in fact was a penalty after all. Pablo De Blasis converted to give Mainz the lead. This was quite possibly the worst advertisement for the new technology to date though and a worrying sign ahead of the looming World Cup.
Marc-Oliver Kempf clearly still hadn't calmed down during the interval, and he was taken off ahead the second half.
The second came in the 78th minute and was a little more conventional. Sloppy play at the back from Freiburg allowing Robin Quaison to square the ball to de Blasis in the box. De Blasis did his very best to miss the open goal but in the end his effort just about made it over the line via the post. 2-0 final score.
A big big win for Mainz 05 were with the three points lifting them out of the relegation zone at the expense of their visitors, albeit only on goal difference. The pressure is firmly on Freiburg now with only four games remaining.