Hoffenheim held to 1-1 draw at home with Mainz

Feb 17, 2012, 23:01 GMT

Sinsheim, Germany - Bundesliga midtable team Hoffenheim settled for a 1-1 draw Friday night in new coach Markus Babbel's home debut, despite being spotted an early own goal by the visitors and dominating the scoring opportunities.

In the opening match of the 22nd round of the Bundesliga season, Mainz's Nikolce Noveski give up an own goal in the ninth minute.

Mohamed Zidan put away the equalizer in the 29th minute, his third score in as many games since rejoining Mainz from Dortmund.

Mainz had the better of ball possession at 53 per cent. Hoffenheim dominated the shots on goal 16 to seven but failed to gain a score by their own efforts.

The draw moves Hoffenheim into ninth place, level on 26 points with Stuttgart and Hamburg. Mainz slips into 12th place, level with Cologne on 24 points.

Babbel, a former Germany defender sacked in December from the Herta Berlin bench, was hired on February 10 in Hoffenheim after the ouster of Holger Stanislawski.

Hoffenheim was too passive after being given the early lead, Babbel said: 'We have to work on that.'

Babbel debuted with the team last week in a 1-1 draw at fifth-place Werder Bremen.

The Bundesliga's 22nd round continues with six games Saturday and two on Sunday.