FSV come out on top of thriller in Augsburg

The 05ers got a well deserved 4-1 win after a brilliant performance against FC Augsburg on Saturday, marking their first victory in the Bundesliga this season. Strikes from Kaishu Sano and Dominik Kohr gave Mainz the lead going into the break, before Kohr was sent off for a second yellow card offence shortly after the restart. Despite the man disadvantage, the visitors continued to dominate and put the game out of reach for the hosts through two more goals from Paul Nebel and Armindo Sieb. Samuel Essende’s goal for the hosts proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

Bo Henriksen made three changes to the team that started against Leipzig a week ago: Andreas Hanche-Olsen began in place of Stefan Bell, Paul Nebel (back from suspension) started instead of William Bøving, and through the middle, Armindo Sieb was given the nod over Nelly Weiper.

Sano celebrates first Bundesliga goal, Kohr adds another

The opening exchanges of the match were played at a high intensity and featured a lot of duels and tackles, which FSV often came out on top of. As a result, it was the visitors who fashioned the first chance of the game. A long throw from Anthony Caci found Phillipp Mwene in the box, however, his shot was blocked in front of goal (6’). It was a really mature performance from the 05ers, who showed that they can be solid defensively, and their eventual early opener was not undeserved. Sano intercepted a pass, dribbled through the middle and fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box with his left foot. There was nothing Finn Dahmen could do to stop the midfielder netting his first Mainz goal and putting the 05ers in front after 14 minutes. The hosts looked lethargic, but did manage to register their first and only shot on target of the first half chance six minutes after going behind. Han-Noah Massengo lifted the ball to Alexis Claude-Maurice, whose acrobatic effort was turned round the post by Robin Zentner. The 05ers stayed concentrated and efficient in their play, as Kohr, fresh from receiving his 100th yellow card in the Bundesliga, won the ball deep in Augsburg territory, dribbled past Cédric Zesiger and fired past Dahmen from just inside the box to make it 2-0 (26’). Sieb, who had looked lively all game, had a chance to put Mainz even further ahead just three minutes later. Much like Kohr, he capitalised on an Augsburg mistake and ran through one-on-one with Dahmen, but fired wide of the mark.

Not a lot happened after that other than a second decent chance in the 36th minute for Claude-Maurice, who whipped a shot towards the far post from the left-hand side. Mainz could have led by even more, but chose to gently stroll into the half-time break with their 2-0 lead.

05ers superior despite man disadvantage

FCA head coach Sandro Wagner reacted at half time, making four substitutions, while FSV returned to the action with the same squad that started. Augsburg seemed to wake up afterwards and did play better, albeit without opening up any real gaps in the Mainz backline. The first chance of the second half went to the visitors, who once again won the ball up high – Amiri laid the ball off to Arnaud Nordin, but the winger couldn’t get his shot on target (52’). Mainz were shocked a minute later, as Massengo drove quickly with the ball towards their box before being pulled back by Amiri and colliding with Kohr. Referee Daniel Schlager’s mind was made up and he showed Mainz’s second goalscorer a second yellow (53’). Henriksen reacted immediately, bringing Stefan Bell on for Nordin. Some might have expected a more tense game following this, but Mainz had other ideas. It was rarely noticeable that the hosts were actually playing with an extra man. It wasn’t long after the sending off that Mainz scored again – Sano made a run down the wing at the hour mark and crossed perfectly to Paul Nebel, who only had to tap the ball over the line to make it 3-0.

FSV were nearly knocked back again three minutes later, however, Zentner was there to save the day. Fabian Rieder’s header from a corner came back off the crossbar to Samuel Essende, whose shot from six yards was kept out by a world-class reflex save by Zentner (63’). Augsburg had been left in the dust by this point, and Sieb’s 69th-minute goal after some brilliant interplay between Amiri and Sano only rubbed more salt in the wound. The Japan international crossed and Sieb finished ruthlessly, giving Dahmen no chance. Sieb had two more chances to make it a brace in the 76th and 77th minutes, before being replaced Weiper. Silvan Widmer and Maxim Leitsch came on alongside Weiper for Mwene and Hanche-Olsen (80') in order to see out what was left of the game. Despite Essende’s late consolation goal from a corner (83'), FSV looked assured in the closing phase and had earned their clear lead with their overall fantastic team performance. At the start of the eight minutes of stoppage time, FSV had the chance to regain their four-goal lead, however, Widmer’s cross failed to reach Weiper in the centre. Down the other end, Zentner was forced into a save by Phillip Tietz, in what was a fairly harmless attack.

Thanks to the 4-1 win, Mainz move to four points after four matchdays before they welcome Borussia Dortmund to the MEWA ARENA next Saturday afternoon. This marks the start of a busy week for the 05ers, who travel to Nicosia (2nd October), before their away game against HSV three days later.