The Wolfsburg quickly showed that they didn’t want to let the bitter 1:6 from the previous week at Borussia Dortmund sit on them.
After the early 1-0 lead for Wolfsburg through Wind (8th), Jonathan Burkardt should have equalized for Mainz. However, the much-praised Rheinhessen striker was denied a free-standing effort by VfL goalkeeper Koen Casteels.
Red card and penalty kick the sticking point
Instead of the 1:1, the sticking point of the game followed in the 24th minute. Kruse skilfully passed a ball on to Lukas Nmecha, who was stopped by Niklas Tauer with a jersey pluck. Referee Harm Osmers immediately awarded a penalty and, after a video check, sent off the young Mainz defender. From then on, the 05ers were completely overwhelmed when they were outnumbered, and so the disaster in Mainz took its course. Kruse converted the penalty safely to 2:0.
Driven by a strong Maximilian Arnold in central midfield, who hardly ever missed a pass, and the extremely dangerous Ridle Baku on the right, the Lower Saxony team put constant pressure on their opponents and showed a level of enthusiasm that hadn’t been seen this season. The offensive with Kruse, Nmcha and wind played the desolate Mainz cover dizzy again and again. The further goals of Kruse (2) and wind were the result. 5-0 at half-time – a novelty in VfL history.
After the break, the Wolves were more merciful with their opponents and didn’t pick up the pace of the first half. Mainz were mainly interested in keeping the result within limits. They, for their part, had one or two scoring chances – but nothing more.
Mainz now welcomes Bayern
On Matchday 32, Wolfsburg and Mainz will play at the same time on Saturday, April 30 at 3:30 p.m. VfL then competes with the relegation candidates from Stuttgart. Mainz 05 welcomes FC Bayern Munich.
Source: mike