Conference League
©IMAGO
1. FSV Mainz 05 reached the round of 16 of an international competition for the first time in the club’s history. At the end of the league phase in the Conference League, the Bundesliga bottom team deservedly won 2-0 (1-0) against Süper Lig club Samsunspor and gave their new coach Urs Fischer a successful home debut. Against the guests, coached by Thomas Reis, formerly of VfL Bochum and Schalke 04, captain Silvan Widmer (44th minute) and Nadiem Amiri scored the goals with a hand penalty (49th).
This means that the Rheinhessen team will avoid the two playoff games in February and will return to the round of 16 on March 12th. Due to the given tournament tree, the possible four opponents are already clear and there could be a top duel with Crystal Palace, trained by ex-Bundesliga coach Oliver Glasner. The other three options are FC Lausanne-Sport from Switzerland, Zrinjski Mostar from Bosnia and Sigma Olomouc from the Czech Republic. After their passionate performance, Mainz, who will host FC St. Pauli in a basement duel on Sunday, can now concentrate on the relegation battle in everyday Bundesliga life.
In front of 33,000 spectators in the sold-out Mewa Arena – including numerous Turkish fans – the Rheinhessen team started with the momentum of last weekend’s surprising 2-2 draw at FC Bayern Munich. Fischer was able to rely on the returnees Amiri, Dominik Kohr and Paul Nebel.
National player Amiri almost made it 1-0 after eleven minutes, his shot from eight meters was blocked at the last moment. When the home team’s initial offensive gradually faded, Samsunspor almost struck: Daniel Batz, who was standing between the posts for the injured regular goalkeeper Robin Zentner, saved from Emre Kılınç. The 34-year-old and Mainz were lucky that Carlo Holse then shot the rebound at Kılınç, who was lying on the ground.
Mainz continued to apply pressure against the sixth-place team in the Turkish Süper Lig: goalkeeper Okan Kocuk just managed to deflect a deflected ball from Amiri towards a corner. Jae-sung Lee also made a big splash, but Widmer made it 1-0: the Swiss shot in from a tight angle.
Former Bundesliga professional Rick van Drongelen gave FSV a perfect start after the break. He blocked a ball with his arm in the penalty area – Amiri converted the penalty to make it 2-0. Referee Mohammad Al-Emara from Finland then interrupted the game for a few minutes because of firecrackers in the visitors’ block. Samsunspor couldn’t gain any more, especially since Mainz’s defense stood securely until the end.
