Götze was “not at 100 percent”
©IMAGO
FSV Mainz 05 scored another breakthrough in the Bundesliga relegation battle with a late win in the Rhine-Main derby against Eintracht Frankfurt. In the 2:1 (1:1) Paul Nebel became the match winner with a double strike in the 6th and 89th minutes and, three days after reaching the quarter-finals of the Conference League, caused great celebration again for the Rheinhessen team, who now had 30 points to gain some breathing space in the table cellar.
The Frankfurt team, for whom Nathaniel Brown (20th) scored the equalizer in front of 33,305 spectators, lost further ground in the fight for the international starting places due to the bankruptcy. The national player was unable to finish the game due to a foot injury. It was initially unclear whether his journey to the DFB selection was at risk.
When he returned to his old place of work for the first time, Eintracht striker Jonathan Burkardt, who wore the Mainz jersey for eleven years from 2014 to 2025, was allowed to start. However, the 25-year-old remained pale throughout the game. Arthur Theate also replaced the suspended Robin Koch during his comeback after a knee injury.
Mario Götze, on the other hand, wasn’t even in the squad. The 33-year-old, whose contract expires in the summer, has only been on the bench in the last two games and has now been completely left out of the squad for the Mainz game by new coach Albert Riera.
“We know his qualities. But I chose others for this game. Mario wasn’t at 100 percent,” said Riera before kick-off on “DAZN” about Götze’s exclusion. It appears increasingly questionable whether there is a sporting future for the 2014 world champion with the Hessians.
When it started, the guests were caught off guard. After a fine pass from Sheraldo Becker, Nebel scored with a right-footed shot to give Mainz the early lead. Returnee Theate deflected the ball unstoppable for Eintracht goalkeeper Michael Zetterer. It was the first goal conceded by Frankfurt in 298 minutes.
However, the deficit did not have any effect on Eintracht, who equalized with the first dangerous attack. Following preparatory work from Jean-Matteo Bahoya, Brown scored with a direct pass. It was the 22-year-old’s fourth goal of the season.
In the largely even game, Mainz seemed a little more determined on offense and had another good chance through Becker (37th), which Zetterer thwarted. Eintracht relied on possession of the ball, but hardly posed any danger. A header from Theate, which posed no problems for 05 goalkeeper Daniel Batz, was the only result until the break.
After the change, Brown remained injured in the locker room. The defensive player had already suffered an injury after twelve minutes when Kaishu Sano from Mainz accidentally fell on his foot. After just over an hour, right-back Nnamdi Collins limped off the field injured.
Shortly before, Fares Chaibi had missed the lead for the guests when he failed with a header against the strongly reacting Batz. The Mainz keeper later made another strong save against Ritsu Doan. Because Becker only hit the inside post on the other side, it looked like a draw for a long time. But fog dusted off shortly before the end to make it 2-1.
