Thanks to a hat-trick from Serhou Guirassy, VfB Stuttgart won the Bundesliga away game at 1. FSV Mainz 05. There was only a spectacle in the second half.
45 meager minutes were followed by 45 spectacular minutes on Saturday (September 16th, 2023): Bundesliga soccer team VfB Stuttgart won the away game at 1. FSV Mainz 05 thanks primarily to one thing Hat tricks won by Serhou Guirassy (56th minute, 84th, 90th + 7) 3:1 (0:0). Leandro Barreiro scored Mainz’s equalizer (70′).
Stuttgart’s head coach Sebastian Hoeneß was happy about the victory and particularly praised striker Serhou Guirassy. “He’s in good shape with confidence.”he said, but emphasized: “The team is also part of it. We have players who use it well. He couldn’t create these opportunities alone.” Nevertheless, he highlighted Guirassy again: “You just have to take your hat off to his performance today.”
Mainz coach Bo Svensson was disappointed after the defeat against Stuttgart: “Obviously it wasn’t a great game for us. But they implemented what I gave the boys. I thought we didn’t allow much. I can’t blame my players.”said Svensson.
Svensson changed his starting eleven compared to the 0:4 defeat in Bremen in two positions: Stefan Bell and Marco Richter, who was allowed to start for the first time, played for the injured Andreas Hanche-Olsen and the ill Brajan Gruda. Because of the tense personnel situation, only eight reserve players sat on the FSV bench instead of the permitted nine.
VfB: Millot plays for Jeong, Undav in the squad for the first time
At VfB, Enzo Millot moved into the starting line-up for Wooyeong Jeong, The South Korean is with the national team at the Asian Games. New signing Deniz Undav was in the squad for the first time after recovering from a knee injury (partial tear of the lateral ligament).
In the early stages of the game, the Stuttgart goalkeeper was the focus. Alexander Nübel thwarted Mainz’s first chance when he parried Richter’s shot from close range in the ninth minute. In general, it was the 05ers who exerted a little more pressure during the first half of this Southwest duel – but there were no further chances to score for a long time.
Hardly any flow in the game between Stuttgart and Mainz
Because: As a result, no real flow of the game developed on either side. VfB had more ball possession (60 percent), but didn’t know how to use it. In the first half, FSV mainly lacked accuracy in passing and at times had a passing rate of only 69 percent.
At least there was one highlight before the half-time whistle: a double chance for the guests. First Guirassy hit the ball from a promising position in the Mainz penalty area, then 05-Keeper Robin Zentner took a chance from Silas (38′). Seven minutes later, Hiroki Ito tried from distance, but his shot sailed a few meters over the crossbar.
Guirassy hits and hits – and hits
Immediately after the break, the game suddenly picked up speed – and it seemed as if both would teams the missing Highlights definitely want to catch up. After Pascal Stenzel on one side and Karim Onisiwo on the other quickly had the first opportunities, the first goal of the game was scored shortly afterwards: Guirassy lobbed the ball past Zentner from a tight angle after Bell took advantage of a long ball from Waldemar Anton had misjudged and made the chance possible in the first place (56th).
The match now finally developed the character of a flat stage Tour de France: The time for long strolls was over – instead, a sprint final gradually announced itself. Chris Führich could have increased the score to 2-0 for the Swabians (62nd), Ludovic Ajorque equalized six minutes later when he hit the post.
Barreiro equalizes for Mainz 05
That also fell, directly with the next Mainz campaign. After a cross from recently substituted Aymen Barkok and a header from Onisiwo, Barreiro poked the ball into the near corner. Nübel dived but was unable to prevent the score from being 1-1 (70′).
But that wasn’t the end point either, because in this final sprint the guests from Stuttgart had the longer stamina – and Guirassy was in the attack. The 27-year-old scored his seventh goal of the season after he let Sepp van den Berg out and pushed the ball past Zentner into the near corner from a tight angle (84th). In stoppage time, Guirassy even scored to make it 3-1, meaning VfB celebrated their third win of the season. It was the home team’s third defeat in the fourth game.
VfB welcomes Darmstadt, Mainz has to go to Augsburg
On the next match day, 1. FSV Mainz 05 will be challenged away. The Svensson team will play at FC Augsburg on Saturday (September 23rd, 2023, 3:30 p.m.). The day before, VfB Stuttgart welcomes promoted team Darmstadt 98 for the Friday evening game of the fifth matchday (8:30 p.m.).
