At the end of the 12th matchday in the Bundesliga, SC Freiburg defeated relegation-threatened FSV Mainz 05. The Rheinhessen are now bottom of the table after their eighth winless game in a row.
At the end of the 12th matchday in the Bundesliga, SC Freiburg defeated relegation-threatened FSV Mainz 05. The Rheinhessen are now bottom of the table after their eighth winless game in a row.
With a convincing performance, SC Freiburg celebrated a deserved 4-0 home win against the crisis-plagued 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday evening (November 30th, 2025). Lukas Kübler gave the hosts an early lead after a corner in front of 33,200 spectators (12th minute), Vincenzo Grifo increased the score for the sports club before the break (26th). Just two minutes later, Mainz’s Paul Nebel was shown the red card. After the break, shooting star Johan Manzambi (50th) and substitute Patrick Osterhage (90th) scored the final score.
“If the team implements the guidelines so consistently, it’s nice to see it from the outside,” said a very satisfied SC coach Julian Schuster in an ARD interview after the game. “Above all, keep going for the next goals when in the majority and not allowing much. The manner and the points are very, very important for us.”
Potulski, the youngest from Mainz Starting eleven player the League history
Compared to 0-0 midweek in the Europa League at Viktoria Plzen Schuster switched to three positions – including Manzambi, who was allowed to start from the start. Schuster’s counterpart Bo Henriksen, who follows seven league games without a win as well as the first defeat in the Conference League was under great pressure, swapped nine positions. So he had to play alongside the suspended Dominik Kohr and Nadiem Amiri the injured keeper Robin Zentner substitute. Lasse Rieß guarded the Mainz goal for Zentner. With Kacper Potulski, Henriksen brought in Mainz’s youngest starting eleven in Bundesliga history at 18 years and 42 days.
Kübler and Grifo give Freiburg a 2-0 lead
And Potulski was in the spotlight for the first time after just five minutes when Lucas Höler got away from him and put the ball in the goal. However, according to video evidence, the supposed goal to take the lead was disallowed by referee Daniel Schlager due to Höler’s very close offside position. Seven minutes later the sports club could actually celebrate. After a corner from Grifo hit the first post, Philipp Lienhart headed to Rieß, who was unable to clear the ball in a controlled manner. Kübler was spot on and scored his second goal of the season to make it 1-0.
Mainz coach Henriksen demanded “courage and energy” from his team, but the Rheinhessen team completely lacked both in the early stages. Freiburg controlled the game confidently and repeatedly ventured in front of the Mainz goal. Keeper Rieß had to clear against Suzuki (19th) and Niklas Beste (21st). But in the 26th minute he was powerless again. Freiburg stormed down the right side, where Kübler prevailed in a duel against Stefan Bell and passed the ball through to Höler. He broke into the penalty area and laid it out for Grifo, who was running along, who easily slotted in to make it 2-0.
Nebula sees red
And things got even worse for Mainz. Just two minutes after conceding the second goal, Paul Nebel tried to run for a ball in midfield, but came a step too late against Lienhart and hit the Freiburg player in the shin with an open sole. Referee Schlager didn’t hesitate for long and showed Nebel the red card for serious foul play. It was Mainz’s fifth expulsion of the current season.
Mainz was not only two goals behind, but also had to play outnumbered for over an hour and therefore retreated further and further into their own half. Freiburg had further chances both out of the game and through dangerously taken corners, but did not score again before the break despite a total of 14 shots on goal.
Manzambi makes everything clear for Freiburg
Both teams came out of the break unchanged – and nothing changed in the course of the game. The SC dominated the game and rewarded themselves again early on. Suzuki and Manzambi combined with a one-two through an overwhelmed 05 defense team, at the end of which the 20-year-old Swiss shot from the bottom left to make it 3-0. Rieß could only watch the ball.
After the clear 3-0 lead, the sports club initially shifted down a few gears and went more into administration mode. Schuster took advantage of the opportunity and brought in two fresh players, Christian Günter and Igor Matanovic, who were supposed to provide further momentum.
But it was Niklas Beste who left the score 4-0. After a harmless Mainz corner, the SC countered via Grifo, who served the best. He lobbed over Rieß, but his ball was deflected off the line by Kawasaki at the last second (72′). Substitute Matanovic could have increased the score even further (74′). In addition, a second goal from Manzambi was conceded by the video referee due to an offside position (80th).
Osterhage takes care of the final score
The decimated Mainz team failed to achieve anything offensively in the second half. In the 82nd minute, SC goalkeeper Noah Atubolu had to intervene for the first time ever after a Mainz action. However, the central long-range shot from substitute Andreas Hanche-Olsen posed no problem for the goalkeeper.
However, the Freiburg team still didn’t have enough. Matthias Ginter extended a cross from Günter to the first post, where substitute Osterhage stood unchallenged and made the final score 4-0 with his first goal of the season. Thanks to the clear home win, Freiburg made a leap in the table and climbed from twelfth to eighth place with 16 points.
Henriksen future open near Mainz
For Mainz and coach Henriksen, the situation is looking increasingly bleak after the 4-0 defeat in the bottom of the table. “It’s a huge disappointment that we didn’t implement what our plan was,” said Mainz captain Stefan Bell, perplexed after the game. “It’s just not enough individually and as a team.” “None of us are in top form at the moment,” the veteran continued, adding: “We let the coaching team down in this game.”
Because of the defeat, the Rheinhessen are slipping Last-minute success from relegation rivals Heidenheim and the eighth winless game in a row to last place in the table, which will probably make the criticism of coach Henriksen even louder. Sports director Niko Bungert initially left the coaching question at Mainz open after the game. “We will analyze the situation critically and question every corner. We cannot continue in this way,” said Bungert at the SWR microphone and announced talks for the evening.
Freiburg has a home game in the cup, Mainz has a break
While the crisis club Mainz is initially in talks about the whereabouts of coach Henriksen, SC Freiburg will continue on Wednesday (December 3rd, 6 p.m.) with the DFB Cup round of 16 against Darmstadt. In the Bundesliga, the Breisgauers have to travel to 1. FC Heidenheim next Saturday (December 6th). Mainz have already been eliminated from the cup, but will open the next Bundesliga matchday with a home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday evening (December 5th, 8:30 p.m.).
Broadcast on Sunday, November 30th, 2025 9:27 p.m., swr.de/sport: Goal report for the 1-0 by Lukas Kübler
Broadcast on Sun, November 30th, 2025 9:45 p.m., SWR Sport, SWR
