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Match report 16.07.2025 - 23:02 Uhr

05ers run out as deserved winners in Saarbrücken

It was a tale of two halves in Mainz 05’s third friendly of pre-season. After scoring four before the break, FSV couldn’t find the back of the net in the second half, though gathered useful experience

Benedict Hollerbach showed what he can bring to Mainz’s game this season and the goal threat that he offers several times in the friendly against Saarbrücken.

After an impressive first half and a rather patchy second 45 minutes, 1. FSV Mainz won their third friendly of pre-season against 1. FC Saarbrücken. All of the 05ers’ goals in the 4-1 victory came in the first half as the 3. Liga side struggled to deal with FSV’s desire to play good football and attack. Ben Bobzien, Benedict Hollerbach – who bagged a brace – and Dominik Kohr were the goalscorers on the afternoon. Florian Pick netted a consolation for Saarbrücken just after the break. For their part, Mainz continued to have chances throughout, even after a ten-man change at the hour mark but lacked the rub of the green they had in the first half. Still, it did nothing to dampen what was a well-deserved victory in front of just under 7,000 fans in Saarland.

After the final whistle, Bo Henriksen said, “The first half was better than at a similar stage last summer. We know what we want and also did well to bring Hollerbach into the game on and off the ball today. It’s fun. We were able to try some things out in a variety of positions. We want to keep improving, and we’ll work intensely in the training camp – since there’s more tactical content to come – but we’ve got a good foundation.

In the seventh minute of the match, the Bundesliga side clinically converted their first chance. Arnaud Nordin managed to find some space down the left wing in dazzling fashion and put a cross in towards the penalty box from the baseline. There, Bobzien was lingering and volleyed home to give Mainz the lead. The 05ers were not only more secure on the ball than their third-division opponents, but also more committed to going forward. Also, their patterns of play were versatile, and they looked time and again to play the speedy Hollerbach through on goal with long balls over the top. The summer signing latched onto one of these passes in the 12th minute and skilfully slowed down on the right-hand side before teeing up Kawasaki in the middle, though Sven Sonnenberg’s last-ditch intervention threw him off his stride and the chance went begging. Three minutes afterwards, Hollerbach himself had the chance to extend his side’s advantage. Kohr managed to poke the ball away from Brünker in the opposition half, turned on the jets and laid it off to the striker at just the right moment, who smashed it in for his first goal in the red and white of the 05er and FSV’s second of the day (15’). In the meantime, the hosts didn’t get much going offensively. Their first half-chance came after a good 20 minutes of action when, following a Saarbrücken counterattack, Stefan Bell deflected a cross into his own side netting. After that, the number of chances dipped slightly, though this was not the case for FSV’s overall dominance of the encounter. Eventually, FSV would add to their tally in the closing stages of the first 45. Hollerbach came up with a perfect couple of touches, controlling a well-placed pass from Sota Kawasaki with his first, before hammering home with the second to make it 3-0 (37’). Two minutes before the break, Kohr poked home from Nadiem Amiri’s corner from close range to extend the lead to 4-0 at half-time (43’). Daniel Batz, who was given the chance to lead the Mainz players onto the pitch to mark his return to his previous employer, was not troubled much in the first 45.

Only Saarbrücken score after the interval

Little changed at the start of the second period, with Mainz continuing to dominate the flow of the game and the possession, often being content to pass the ball around their own ranks for long stretches. Still, goal number five remained elusive in the five-minute spell after half-time. What was even more surprising was that the home side managed to get a goal back shortly after that, even though this was primarily a result of errors made by the visitors. Nordin’s pass back to Batz fell short, and Maurice Multhaup lifted a loopy cross over 05’s keeper towards Pick who had lost his marker Caci and headed home to make the scoreline 4-1 (51’). Just before the hour mark, the 05ers almost restored their previous advantage, as Sonnenberg was forced to clear the ball away from Kawasaki and out for a corner, with the Japanese midfielder waiting to get on the end of a whipped ball from Hollerbach (59’). A few minutes after that, Batz received a standing ovation from his former club, as he departed the action for Mainz’s number one Robin Zentner (67’). It was a nice moment in a game that had lost a bit of its shine, with the entertainment value of the first half having faded away. With eleven minutes to go on the clock, the chance fell to Armindo Sieb to bag his side’s fifth goal, but he was denied by Saarbrücken’s keeper (79’). From the resulting corner, Maxim Leitsch’s header was powerful, though not on target and sailed just over the crossbar (80’). These two chances were the last real noteworthy moments of the friendly, which had - predominantly in the first half – brought to light the 05ers’ good form, showing that they are on a good track in pre-season. They will continue their preparation for the upcoming season with a one-week training camp that starts on Wednesday. Before then, the Mainz players will have two public training sessions at the Bruchweg (on Thursday and Tuesday, both at 10:00 CEST).

Saarbrücken 1-4 Mainz 05

FSV: Batz (67' Zentner) - Caci (60' Mwene), Da Costa (60' Widmer), Bell (60' Schopp), Kohr (60' Potulski), Nordin (60' Bos) - Sano (60' Maloney), Amiri (60' Leitsch) - Bobzien (60' Hong), Kawasaki (60' Gleiber) - Hollerbach (60' Sieb)

Goals: 0-1 Bobzien (7'), 0-2 & 0-3 Hollerbrach (15' & 37'), 0-4 Kohr (43'), 1-4 Pick (51') 

Attendance: 6,800

Referee: Niclas Zemke