Ahead of this game, Mainz sat in 16th following their draw to Freiburg last weekend. 

For the away team, they were in 17th and a colossal five points off Mainz in the relegation play-off spot.

Mainz opened the scoring in the first half as Leandro Barreiro tapped in the ball into a practically empty net following a Marvin Schwäbe parry.

After the halftime break, Timo Schultz's Köln side pushed for the leveller and had a golden chance in the 49th minute as VAR ruled that Faride Alidou was fouled in the box. 

Despite this, Luca Waldschmidt missed the decisive penalty and Köln had to wait for the equaliser. 

However, after an extreme amount of pressure on Mainz's goal they were awarded another penalty in injury time after much deliberation and an on-field review.

Making amends for Waldschmidt's miss, Florian Kainz stepped up and scored. 

Mainz face an uphill battle to get out of the bottom three

With two points now separating Mainz and the teams outside of the bottom three, they face an uphill battle heading into the final three games. 

Adding to this, the eight-point gap Mainz would have had between them and Köln shrunk to only five due to the late conceded goal. 

Despite controlling the first half of the game at the MEWA arena, they were dominated by Köln during the second forty-five and were a Luca Waldschmidt converted penalty off losing.

It is fair to suggest that back-to-back draws have halted their run of brilliant form under Bo Henriksen. 

Games against Heidenheim, Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg will now become three finals for Bo Henriksen's side. 

Facing suspensions, Mainz are without Brajan Gruda, Nadiem Amiri and Phillip Mwene for the game against Heidenheim so their next Bundesliga tie already seems like a tough one to win.

1. FC Köln are almost certainly relegated

1. FC Köln have had back-to-back must-win games against Darmstadt and Mainz and have failed to win both. 

Lying in the pits of the Bundesliga, this result against Mainz surely will mean the end of their five-year stay in Germany's top division. 

However, this performance (especially in the second half) showed that they weren't just going to cave in and give up. 

A much improved second half saw them dominate the ball and have the majority of the chances. 

However, their luck wasn't in as they failed to take their chances between the missed Luca Waldschmidt penalty and the huge save from Mainz's Robin Zentner. 

Mainz will want to fiercely avoid the play off spot

Every year, there are teams in the Bundesliga that manage to claw themselves out of the bottom three to avoid the Bundesliga relegation play-off. 

In the 2. Bundesliga this season, the team that 16th in the Bundesliga would have to face seems like it would be Fortuna Düsseldorf. 

With Bundesliga experience and the strongest attack in the second tier, Düsseldorf look a strong side and one that could knock a Bundesliga side off their perch. 

1. FC Köln can still create a gap between themselves and Darmstadt

With five points separating them and Darmstadt in 18th, 1. FC Köln have a chance to widen this gap over the coming weeks. 

Games against Union Berlin and Heidenheim as the last two ties in the season look to be winnable even if the side are already relegated. 

With the hope of survival already being thrown away, Timo Schultz can afford to be experimental in the final games with nothing to play for. 

This in mind, he may choose to begin to establish his squad for the next season in the 2. Bundesliga in the face of a mass exodus in the summer.

Players like Damion Downs, Max Finkgräfe and Jan Thielmann have a chance to be the frontmen of the squad next season and will be given a bigger chance to prove themselves in Germany's second tier.