1. FSV Mainz 05 put in a lot of effort against Borussia Mönchengladbach, but had no luck and ended up losing with an own goal.
Mainz’s Danny da Costa scored the only goal of the evening in the 58th minute. His own goal sealed the defeat for Mainz, who have now been without a win for nine games and remain bottom of the table after matchday 13.
Mönchengladbach, on the other hand, continues its upward trend, the team from Lower Rhine climbed to ninth place for the time being.
Polanski: “Extremely proud of the team”
Gladbach’s coach Eugen Polanski appeared in the Sportschau interview “extremely proud”his team has one “real effort of will” shown, but also playfully convincing. “We should have taken the lead in the first round. After that we drilled the board and kept the lead over time.”
The Gladbachers, who traveled to Mainz with the self-confidence of four wins in five games, let the hosts’ first Sturm und Drang phase pass them by – and then took the initiative themselves after a quarter of an hour: Jens Castrop should have taken the lead from close range, but Maxim Leitsch saved with a spectacular header for the already beaten Daniel Batz.
Gladbach’s goal conceded by VAR
At the subsequent corner, the Gladbachers were already celebrating the supposed lead: Leitsch was once again the center of attention, the Mainz defender directed a long ball into his own net. But the scene was checked; Gladbach’s Yannik Engelhardt was at the second post when Leitsch headed the ball, in a suspicious position. The VAR, on the other hand, wanted to have recognized that Engelhardt still had his hand on the ball – the goal was conceded in any case.
Mönchengladbach remained the dominant and more dangerous team; Mainz were too hectic in their offensive efforts. The hosts’ only big chance in the first half went to Fabio Moreno Fell – but things got really strange in the 27th minute: The Spaniard hit the woodwork twice in a row, but was offside on the first attempt; the goal should have been conceded upon review.
Mainz drew courage from the first half without conceding a goal and looked for their chance immediately after the restart: Kaishu Sano won the ball in midfield and fed Nelson Weiper with a strong through ball – but Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas’ rescue act was just as strong.
Mainz unfortunate – falling behind due to da Costa’s own goal
The bottom of the table showed resistance – but unfortunately fell behind: First a pinball landed at Castrop’s feet, and Batz deflected the shot over the crossbar with a reflex. At the resulting corner, Haris Tabakovic headed past da Costa’s back – and the ball rolled into the far corner.
Interim coach Benjamin Hoffmann brought in Arnaud Nordin, a new offensive man. Mainz increased the pressure. The unfortunate da Costa initiated the best chance to date with a measured cross right at Weiper’s head – but he managed to put the ball past the far post from five meters (73′).
On the other side, Shuto Machino could have made the preliminary decision, but Batz went long and ruined this chance – it wasn’t the Mainz keeper’s fault that evening.
Mainz tried everything – the strong Sano kept pushing the team, feeding Jae-Sung Lee in a central position five minutes before the end. The Korean’s shot was blocked at the last moment by Kevin Diks (86′) – it was Mainz’s last chance.
Sports director Bungert: New head coach should be announced by Monday
Mainz coach Hoffmann spoke of one in the Sportschau interview “maximum unfortunate” Defeat. “We didn’t play the way the table shows at the moment. That also makes me positive.”
For Hoffmann it was supposed to be his only appearance on the sidelines for the time being. As Niko Bungert confirmed to Sportschau, a new head coach should be presented by Monday at the latest. Urs Fischer is considered the top candidate, but Bungert did not want to comment on this.
Mainz in Poznan and then at FC Bayern, Gladbach against Wolfsburg
Mainz continues the Europa Conference League with a guest appearance at Lech Poznan on Thursday evening (9 p.m.). Mainz also have an away game in the league on matchday 14, at FC Bayern (Sunday, 5:30 p.m.). Gladbach welcomes VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday (3:30 p.m.).