After three wins in the Conference League, 1. FSV Mainz 05 suffered their first defeat. Mainz lacks courage and commitment against CS Universitatea Craiova. Only towards the end do they let hope arise again.
After three wins in the Conference League, 1. FSV Mainz 05 now suffered its first international defeat. Mainz lacks courage and commitment against CS Universitatea Craiova. Only towards the end do they let hope arise again.
1. FSV Mainz 05 missed its fourth win in a row in the Conference League. In front of around 1,200 Mainz fans, the Rheinhessen team showed a despondent performance for long stretches in Romania and had to admit defeat to CS Universitatea Craiova 0-1.
Assad Al-Hamlawi gave the Romanian hosts the lead with a penalty kick in the 65th minute. Two minutes before the end, 18-year-old Kacper Potulski scored the supposed equalizer for Mainz. However, the goal was disallowed due to an offside position.
Mainz keeper Robin Zentner has to leave the field early
As third in the Conference League, Mainz were able to start the game relaxed. In comparison for the last Bundesliga game against Hoffenheim Coach Bo Henriksen therefore rested a few regulars and started in Romania with a completely changed offensive: Instead of Paul Nebel, Benedict Hollerbach and Jae-Sung Lee, Ben Bobzien, William Böving and Arnaud Nordin moved into the starting team.
At the start of the game, Mainz were the more passive team and initially let the hosts CS Universitatea Craiova take the reins. After twenty minutes, Rheinhessen made their first change: goalkeeper Robin Zentner showed muscular problems in his thigh and had to leave the field after a short treatment break. Lasse Rieß took over between the posts.
After that, the guests struggled to get into the rhythm. Dominik Kohr had the zero-five team’s best chance in the first half in the 26th minute: He headed Nadiem Amiri’s free kick dangerously straight towards the Romanians’ goal. But Craiova’s goalkeeper Pavlo Isenko parried the ball one-handed towards the crossbar.
Mainz offensive lacks courage and Confidence
In the quarter of an hour before the break, the game seemed a bit disjointed, Mainz showed a lack of courage and lack of ideas offensively. Craiova, on the other hand, found her way into the game better and better and was able to put pressure on Rheinhessen at times. At halftime it remained 0-0.
Because Mainz 05 didn’t get going offensively at the beginning of the second half, Bo Henriksen took action after about an hour and brought Lee and Nebel back. However, the Romanians had the next chance and there was a bitter setback for Mainz: During an attempt to clear the ball, Kacper Potulski hit attacker Alexandru Cicaldau on the foot – the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Substitute Assad Al-Hamlawi gave Craiova a secure lead with a penalty (65′).
Mainz’s late equalizer is withdrawn
The momentum then belonged to Craiova, who shortly afterwards made it 2-0 again with Al-Hamlawi. From then on, however, the Rheinhessen seemed a little more alert and tried harder. Two minutes before the end of regular time, Potulski provided Mainz’s supposed salvation: the 18-year-old scored with his head after a free kick from Amiri. However, the goal was disallowed due to an offside position (89th).
After that, the Zero Fives threw in everything they hadn’t shown before, but too much time had already passed. Mainz 05 suffered their first defeat of this Conference League season and lost 0-1 against CS Universitatea Craiova.
Mainz 05 visits Freiburg
However, the chances of reaching the round of 16 are still good for Mainz. There are still two games left to play in the league phase of the Conference League and Mainz is in third place with nine points. Before that, however, the Rheinhessen team goes back to everyday Bundesliga life. Already on Sunday, the penultimate in the table is a guest at SC Freiburg on Thursday evening in the Europa League with a 0-0 draw at Viktoria Plzen had to.
Broadcast on Thursday, November 27th, 2025, 9:01 p.m., SWR.de/sport: “Mainz 05 suffers their first defeat against Craiova”
