1. FSV Mainz 05 clinched their third win in the third game of the Conference League. The match winner was substitute Jae-sung Lee.
Mainz 05 won the Conference League 2-1 (0-1) against the highly promoted AC Florence. Simon Sohm gave the guests the lead (16th minute), Benedict Hollerbach equalized after the break (68th). In stoppage time, substitute Jae-sung Lee shook the Mainz Arena with the winning goal.
“We didn’t play the best football today. But we invested a lot and brought a lot of energy to the pitch,” said Nadiem Amiri in an interview with SWR after the game. “We have to get over the old virtues. Work hard, lots of long balls, go for it.”
Early chances for Mainz 05
Both teams entered the encounter with a maximum of six points from two games. At the national level, however, both Mainz and Florence are weak: the 05ers are in 17th place in the Bundesliga, while Fiorentina is even last in Serie A. During the week, the Italians reacted to the sporting crisis and fired coach Stefano Pioli. In Mainz the team was looked after by Daniele Galloppa.
The 05ers got off to a good start in the game. The technically adept Italians didn’t allow the technically adept Italians to develop their aggressiveness in the duels. The hosts then had the first chance. Paul Nebel asserted himself strongly on the right side, Nelson Weiper was no longer able to press his cross into the center properly with his header – no problem for keeper Tommaso Martinelli (10th minute).
Florence makes ice-cold use of Mainz’s mistakes
The Mainz team stuck with it: Armindo Sieb dribbled his way down the left to the baseline, his finish was a mixture of shot and cross, Nebel could no longer get to the ball at the far post (13th). But then the guests struck coldly with their first offensive action. After a bad pass from Danny da Costa, things happened very quickly: the ball passed two stations to Simon Sohm, who hit the ball from 18 meters into the right corner. Keeper Robin Zentner was still there, but couldn’t prevent the impact.
After taking the lead, Florence pulled back a little and let the 05ers take possession of the ball. The hosts had to shake themselves off after falling behind and almost ran into a disastrous counterattack in the 22nd minute. But Zentner saved against Roberto Piccoli, who appeared free in front of him.
Potulski prevents the second goal
There was no longer much to be felt from the good initial phase for the Mainz team; the deficit had noticeably put the Rheinhessen team out of step. Fiorentina, with well-known names like David de Gea, Edin Dzeko and Moise Kean only sitting on the bench, limited themselves to securing the lead.
Towards the end of the first half, Mainz got back into the game better, established themselves in the opponent’s half – and were promptly countered again. Full-back Dodo was free on the right side and fed Jacopo Fazzini in the center. Kaspar Potulski deflected his shot towards the corner at the last second – a great save by the young Pole (39′). Apart from a blocked shot by Nadiem Amiri, nothing more came from Mainz until the break.
Florence with chances after the break
The second half started with a lot of intensity from Mainz. Lennard Maloney picked up the first yellow card of the match when he complained too loudly about a decision by referee Lawrence Visser (48′). Five minutes later, the 05ers were lucky when Fazzini shot past his teammate Piccoli after Dodo’s preparatory work.
Shortly afterwards, Piccoli missed the second goal for the visitors when he fired past the far corner (55′). The Mainz team was far away from such dangerous actions at this stage. Although the hosts acted with great commitment, the FSV mostly evaded the danger in the offensive game. Coach Bo Henriksen reacted and brought Jae-sung Lee and Kaishu Sano into the game.
Joker Hollerbach scores
After a standard situation, Mainz had a good opportunity. The ball landed at captain Silvan Widmer over several stops, but he made a hole in the air from a promising position (64′). The 05ers now increased the pressure. Hollerbach, who was also a substitute, won the ball and after passing through Weiper and Lee, the summer newcomer appeared free in front of the goal and scored ice-cold.
Met to equalize: Benedict Hollerbach
The Mainz team now had the upper hand and, encouraged by the crowd, pushed for the second goal. But that almost fell to the other side, but Kean put his header clearly next to the goal from a good position (78th). Three minutes later the attacker actually scored, but was just offside when the ball was passed. Now there was a lot of speed. Sano dribbled his way into the visitors’ penalty area but was blocked. Seconds later, Hollerbach passed for William Böving, but he aimed clearly too high (both 84th).
The Mainz team threw everything forward. First, Weiper missed the winning goal for Rheinhessen. Lee then made up for it: Widmer missed Sano’s cross, but Lee was spot on and scored the late winning goal. With nine points, the 05ers now have the best chance of making it to the round of 16.
Mainz demanded in Frankfurt
In the Bundesliga, Mainz continues on Sunday with the Rhine-Main duel at Eintracht Frankfurt (7:30 p.m.). The next game in the Conference League is against the Romanian club Universitatea Craiova (November 27th).
Broadcast on Thursday, November 6th, 2025, 4:00 p.m., The Day in Rhineland-Palatinate, SWR1 Rhineland-Palatinate
