Japan striker Shinji Okazaki scored his eighth goal of the Bundesliga season in Mainz's 2-1 defeat away to Hamburg on Sunday.
Okazaki nodded in an 89th-minute corner that did little to console Mainz, which was thoroughly outplayed by the hosts in losing its second in a row.
"I couldn't get the position I wanted on the previous corner so I was hoping to have another chance, and I got one," Okazaki said.
Okazaki, though, lamented missing a header just before the final whistle that could have salvaged his team a point.
"It would've been a draw had I put that away," he said. "I'll make sure to take the next chance I get. Today's first half was the worst first half we've had this season."
Mainz is 11th in the table, 20 points off the pace of leaders Bayern Munich. Mainz has two games left before the winter break.