Goals from Niko Bungert (47.), Aristide Bance (65.) and Elkin Soto (80.) sealed the win for the visitors, with Pavel Krmas (71.) handing Freiburg an interim lifeline.

Hosts dominate early play

The home side, who in the previous round dispatched Bundesliga high-fliers 1899 Hoffenheim from the competition, dominated the early stages against a Mainz team initially plagued by poor interplay.

For all their superiority however, it took Freiburg half an hour to find their range, with captain Heiko Butscher pulling a save out of FSV keeper Dimo Wache (32.). Two minutes later a Butscher header forced Florian Heller into a goalline clearance.

Bungert bangs one in

It all counted for nothing however as, with the second half barely underway, central defender Bungert headed Mainz in front. Tommy Bechmann passed up a chance for the equaliser eleven minutes later and Mohamadou Idrissou's subsequent finish was disallowed for a foul.

Soon after that, Bance headed Mainz two-up. Krmas gave Freiburg fresh hope, pulling one back with the third header of the game. But it was the guests who would have the final say in this one, Soto making sure of their place in the last eight with ten minutes to go.