FSV fight hard to earn point in Poznań

Mainz 05 head back home with a hard-fought point, after a 1-1 draw with Lech Poznań. Although the 05ers now sit on ten points after five Conference League games, the two points dropped means it’s now not certain that they’ll finish in the top eight and achieve automatic qualification for the knockout phase. One positive is not to be ignored, though: Mainz's tally does qualify them for February's play-off round at the very least, which means more European adventures for the 05ers at the beginning of 2026. Sota Kawasaki gave the visitors the lead before Benedict Hollerbach had a goal ruled out for offside minutes later. Poznań then equalised from the penalty spot following a contentious refereeing decision. Mainz dominated the second half, but had to really hold on to win a point, after Nikolas Veratschnig’s red card meant they played the final half hour a man down.

Head coach Urs Fischer made four changes from the side that lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach,  as he took to the sideline for the first time as Mainz boss. Andreas Hanche-Olsen was brought in for Maxim Leitsch in defence, while Nikolas Veratschnig was brought in on the left flank for the injured Phillipp Mwene. Nadiem Amiri’s injury meant that Jae-sung Lee started in midfield next to Kaishu Sano, rather than up front as he did against Gladbach, with Paul Nebel taking his place in the attack. Benedict Hollerbach came in for Fabio Moreno Fell, while Nelson Weiper kept his place as the focal point of the Mainz forward line.

Poznań bold, referee questionable

The home side began the game strongly and clearly looked to play the game their own way. They owned the first ten minutes, but they couldn’t find a way through an organised Mainz defence. The 05ers found a way through in the tenth minute through Veratschnig, but Bartosz Mrozek was there to parry his shot wide (10’). The Polish side almost opened the scoring after a cross from Luis Palma found the head of former Nürnberg man Mikael Ishak, but he was denied by lightning-sharp reflexes from Daniel Batz (20’). Skipper Silvan Widmer was forced off with an injury after 27 minutes and was replaced by Kawasaki. Hollerbach found space on the left-hand side and floated a beautiful cross to the back post, where the Japanese was there to finish with his thigh and net his first goal for the club just a minute after coming on. The goal spurred the visiting side on, as they immediately looked for another. They thought they had it in 31st minute after Hollerbach headed in following a Weiper effort that came back off the crossbar, but a VAR check confirmed that the striker was offside.

It was a tough one to take, but ultimately the correct decision. The hosts then found a way back into the game after a contentious refereeing decision. Daniel Batz made two brilliant saves, before Danny da Costa picked up the rebound and cleared the ball, seemingly hitting the hand of Palma, with the striker then going down under what seemed to be no contact. The referee pointed to the spot straight away, with a VAR check that lasted several minutes confirming his decision, despite the handball in the build-up and the apparent lack of contact. It certainly wasn’t an advert for VAR, but Ishak didn’t care, as he buried his penalty – 1-1 (41’). Mainz stayed on the front foot despite the equaliser, with Hollerbach forcing Mrozek into another good save (45+1’). The Polish goalkeeper was then forced into another save from Veratschnig just before the half-time whistle, after a cross from Nebel (45+1’).

FSV on the front foot before going down to ten

The visitors came out of the break unchanged and started quickly. Nebel flashed an effort just wide of the far post in the 50th minute, before Veratschnig had another effort six minutes later, but he couldn’t get his header on target. Mainz played with aggression and really set the tone, which made the sending off all the more frustrating. Veratschnig brought an opposing player down on the counter-attack and was shown a second yellow card. The Austrian’s first card came in the first half, after a seemingly unanimated protest against the generously awarded penalty. Just four minutes later, the man advantage nearly paid off. Pablo Rodriguez broke into the box with just Batz to beat, but Mainz’s keeper showed incredible reflexes again and put out a strong arm to brilliantly deny the effort (70’).

Fischer made more substitutions straight after, bringing Arnaud Nordin and William Bøving on for Weiper and Lee. The hosts, in need of all three points, threw everything at Mainz, but couldn’t find a way through the defence or past Batz. An 84th minute counter-attack showed the 05ers were running out of energy, as Hollerbach dragged his effort wide. It would be his last action before being replaced by Fabio Moreno Fell to make his European debut. Lennard Maloney was brought on at the same time for Kawasaki. Batz was then called upon again, this time making a great stop to deny Ishak (87’). FSV never gave up and almost won it late on. Ishak misplaced a pass in his own half and gave it away to Bøving, whose effort skimmed off the outside of the post and went wide. The full-time whistle blew moments later, with the 05ers leaving the pitch with a well-earned point. How valuable that point is will be decided in a week’s time at the MEWA ARENA on matchday six of the UEFA Conference League.

 The 05ers go again on Sunday afternoon in Bavaria, as they take on FC Bayern München (17:30 CET). Samsunspor will then visit the MEWA ARENA four days later (21:00 CET), before a crucial final game of the year at home against St. Pauli on 21st December (17:30).