1. FSV Mainz 05 took a big step out of the relegation zone of the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon thanks to a strong away performance at RB Leipzig. The key players in the 2-1 (1-1) away win were two winter newcomers who made Leipzig’s defense look bad on several occasions. The only downside for the guests was the injury to Benedict Hollerbach.
Nadiem Amiri (penalty kick, 45th + 6th minute) and Silas (49th) scored for the guests against a Leipzig team that was generally too harmless. New signing Phillip Tietz, who took Mainz’s penalty and prepared the goal from fellow striker Silas – also a newcomer in the winter – deserved top marks. Conrad Harder took the flattering lead for Leipzig (40th).
Union’s Fischer satisfied, Leipzig’s Werner frustrated: “Too bad”
Mainz collected big points in the Bundesliga table thanks to the surprising away three and is at least temporarily in non-relegation place 15. The change of coach from Bo Henriksen to Urs Fischer at the beginning of December is paying off more and more. “It was a great performance by my team. I liked it very much” said Fischer on the Sportschau microphone after the game. “But we’re still at the bottom and have to keep working on different things.”
Leipzig, on the other hand, made another mistake after the draw against St. Pauli and will lose fourth place in the Champions League if the competition from Stuttgart scores against Freiburg on Sunday (3:30 p.m., live in the Sportschau audio stream). Ole Werner was correspondingly disappointed after the game. “Our performance was too bad: too sedate, incorrectly structured, too rarely doing what we set out to do. Overall, that was far too little from us“, said Leipzig’s coach.
Leipzig is having a hard time against well-adjusted Mainz players
Werner had to do without his top scorer Christoph Baumgartner (six goals, eight assists), who was suspended. Harder was allowed to play for the Austrian on the offensive, slightly ahead of Romulo, who played in an unusually suspended role against Mainz. The change didn’t do RB any good: in terms of flow of the game, things looked poor for the hosts in the first 45 minutes, while it was the relegation candidate from Mainz who had chances to score.
No matter how well the guests got into the game, there was a significant dampener in the mood early on in the game: without any outside influence, Benedict Hollerbach fell to the ground while receiving the ball, screamed loudly and had to be carried away on a stretcher (14th). The offensive man was holding his Achilles tendon and the Mainz team is likely to be out for a long period of time.
Substituted in severe pain: Benedict Hollerbach from Mainz 05
Mainz despite Hollerbach shock good in the game
The guests, who have been much more stable under coach Fischer for weeks than at the start of the season, quickly shook off the shock. Even with Silas coming in for Hollerbach, the 05ers showed themselves to be well organized and grippy in the duels. And there were pinpricks going forward, but the conspicuous Tietz was unable to take advantage of his two good opportunities (21st and 38th).
In view of the sluggish offensive performance, a negative mood quickly spread among the Leipzig team: Ole Werner shouted instructions onto the field with a dark expression, shooting star Yan Diomandé peppered the ball on the ground after failing to receive the ball and David Raum gave his teammates accusatory looks after a bad pass. Romulo, in his central offensive position, was not in the game at all despite a decent fighting performance. In short: things actually didn’t work out for Leipzig.
Strong Nusa performance helps Leipzig take the lead
The fact that RB still took the lead was due to a courageous performance by the strong Antonio Nusa, who repeatedly showed off his dynamism. He easily left his opponent Danny da Costa standing and hit a precise cross into the center. There, Baumgartner’s substitute Harder made a remarkable header into the far corner.
Assist provider and goalscorer: Nusa (l.) celebrates with Harder
The Mainz team rewarded themselves for a good away game in the first half. When there was a free ball in the penalty area, Tietz put his foot slightly in front of the rushing space and thus drew contact. Referee Daniel Schlager pointed to the spot, a tough decision, but apparently not a clearly wrong one for the referee team. “Everyone has now said to me: It’s not a foul. But I can’t buy any of it now“, said the room, which was also served due to Leipzig’s weak performance, after the game.
Amiri stepped up, scored and euphorically celebrated the equalizer with his friend Tietz, as he had done so often recently. “It feels like I’ve been playing for Mainz 05 for years“, said Tietz about his strong performance after the game. “It’s a lot of fun, I’m really excited for the fans and the club.”
Harmonizing perfectly on the lawn: Amiri and Tietz (r.)
Silas like in the best of times: 2:1 for Mainz
The guests carried the euphoria of the equalizer into the second half. Only a few minutes had been played before Tietz sent his sideman Silas on his way. The Congolese took heart, as he did in the best of Stuttgart times, and dribbled at speed towards the Leipzig defensive line. Silas made RB captain Willi Orban look really bad, he had a bit of luck against Ridle Baku – and then stayed cool in the end. Mainz had turned the game around.
Leipzig had already claimed over 60 percent of the ball possession in the first half, and the deficit grew even higher. The ambitious hosts didn’t want to afford another slip-up in the fight for the premier class and now finally increased the intensity. But the playful deficiencies remained: Romulo and Diomandé still couldn’t get into the game at all. Werner finally took the disappointing Brazilian off the field.
Orban awards Leipzig’s biggest Chance of equalization
While things continued to be tough, there were a few chances for RB due to the increasingly pressing superiority of the hosts. But it wasn’t really compelling in the second half. Some passes in the offensive third were too imprecise and Nusa’s advances were too rarely successful.
Orban’s header (80′) could have equalized with a more precise header. In the final minutes, a number of balls sailed into the Mainz penalty area, but the visitors’ defense withstood the siege.
Leipzig in Cologne, Mainz against Augsburg
Leipzig will be guests at 1. FC Köln on Sunday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) and will be looking to make amends – Werner’s team needs to improve a lot, especially in offensive play. Mainz welcomes FC Augsburg on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) with the wind of ten points from the last five games.
