FSV enjoy successful final friendly

Final friendly passed: thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Premier League side AFC Bournemouth, 1. FSV Mainz 05 ended their series of summer friendlies unbeaten. In front of around 7,500 spectators at the MEWA ARENA, Sheraldo Becker gave Mainz an early lead after they had first had to withstand a spell of pressure from the visitors. Evanilson equalised before half-time. In a second half shaped by numerous changes on both sides, substitute William Böving eventually scored what proved to be the winner.

Head coach Urs Fischer, who trusted the same XI as in last week’s game against Paris, said after the final whistle: “The first ten or 15 minutes were untidy. We gave too many balls away. Nevertheless, we took the lead and did not allow much either. We have to keep going and try to be in the game from the very beginning. Up until the 35th minute, it looked better, but after that we lost a bit of control again. We addressed that at half-time, especially Bournemouth’s strong pressing. We did want to provoke them a little, but for that we need slightly better movement. I think pre-season was good, the path is right and the results were positive too. We’ll take that with us, even though we still have to work on a few things.”

Zentner records assist

The visitors made the better start to the match, with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees at pitch level. They pressed extremely high and looked very sharp in possession. The first chances were not long in coming: a powerful Marcus Tavernier strike flew just wide of the right post after nine minutes, before Dominik Kohr made a last-ditch block to deny Rayan. After FSV had also survived a small series of Bournemouth corners unscathed, the hosts, who had mainly been reacting up to that point, began to grow into the game and took a somewhat surprising lead. Robin Zentner caught a cross and quickly threw the ball into Becker’s path. The forward left his opponents behind and crowned his 70-metre solo run with a precise finish from 18 metres (14’). Just three minutes later, it was almost 2-0 when Nadiem Amiri, captaining Mainz, struck from 20 metres after a one-two with Tietz, but was denied by Djordje Petrovic (17’). Mainz were now enjoying a really strong spell, while the English side seemed to be paying the price for their high early tempo. Following a corner in the 23rd minute, Lee curled an effort just centimetres wide. Only in the minutes before half-time did Bournemouth begin to make an impact again, but their determination ultimately earned them a deserved equaliser before the break. First, Rayan ran through alone on Zentner after a high turnover and hit only the post from 35 metres (39’). Two minutes later, however, nothing and no one could prevent the deserved equaliser: Rose’s side had once again succeeded with their aggressive pressing, Evanilson profited from a fine through ball and gave FSV’s number one no chance with a delicate lob.

Chances at both ends as Böving strikes for efficient Mainz

After the restart, Ransford Königsdörffer replaced goalscorer Becker, and this time it was the hosts who had the first effort, with Phillip Tietz firing wide shortly after the break (47’). For the English side, Justin Kluivert twice got shots away from promising positions (51’, 56’), but was unable to find the net. After just over an hour, Mainz then introduced the nine outfield players who had remained on the bench, giving them around 30 minutes of match practice. Chances were initially slow to arrive, but at the start of the final quarter of an hour, FSV stepped up their attacking efforts once more. First, the visitors blocked a Königsdörffer first-time effort after a cut-back from Otto Ruoppi (77’), but just one minute later Böving, again set up by Ruoppi, struck cleanly from the edge of the penalty area to put FSV back in front (78’). After that, the game opened up again, with chances at both ends. While Bournemouth substitute Ben Gannon-Doak headed wide despite being completely free (86’), Königsdörffer then found only the side-netting for FSV two minutes before the end. Shortly afterwards, the final whistle sounded in Mainz’s eighth friendly of pre-season, with seven wins and one draw making for an excellent overall record.

After two training-free days at the start of the week, FSV will enter the final phase of preparations from Wednesday ahead of their competitive opener away to VfB Krieschow next Sunday. Six days later, Mainz will then host newly promoted Paderborn at the MEWA ARENA on the opening Bundesliga matchday.

Further Mainz 05 reaction from the MEWA ARENA

Niko Bungert: “We are assessing the friendly results calmly, but it still feels good to win games. Regardless of that, the coaching team will continue to clearly point out what was good and what was less successful. We are not getting carried away, and we know that completely different opponents await us from next weekend onwards. There is still hard work ahead of us.”

Danny da Costa: “As a player, you always want to win, including friendlies. You simply have to analyse things objectively, because even after wins there are plenty of insights to take with you. There are certainly better things than playing football in 38 degrees, but we have to accept it as it is. Today, we struggled in the first half. We didn’t have the possession we needed to calm the game down at times. The opponent did well, but we simply need better movement there. That can also save energy, because you’re not just chasing the ball the whole time. One thing we definitely have to take into the season is our efficiency. Another takeaway, and one that should stay that way, is that it is extremely difficult to score goals against us.”

Mainz 05 - Bournemouth 2:1 (1:1)

FSV : Zentner - Caci (61. Yamasaki), da Costa (61. Hanche-Olsen), Gruber (61. Bell), Kohr (61. Potulski), Mwene (61. Nakuzola) - Sano (61. Maloney), Amiri (61. Ruoppi), Lee (61. Kawasaki)) - Becker (46. Ransford Königsdörffer), Tietz (61. Böving)
AFC : Petrovic - Truffert, Cook, Hill (46th Diakaté), Evanilson, Da Silva, Smith Tavernier, Kluivert, Toth, Rayan

Goals : 1:0 Becker (14th), 1:1 Rayan (38th), 2:1 Böving (78th)

Attendance : 7,500
Referee : Timo Gerach (Patrick Kessel, Benedikt Kempkes)