05ers celebrate first home Bundesliga win for nearly a year

1. FSV Mainz 05 have won a Bundesliga game at the MEWA ARENA for the first time since February 2025. The 2-1 win over 1. FC Heidenheim was a hard-fought and intense affair, which saw the 05ers take the lead through captain Silvan Widmer, before Nadiem Amiri doubled the advantage after the break. The 24,500 spectators were treated to some pure relegation-battle football, with Heidenheim pulling a goal back and then almost equalising, but with passion and a little bit of luck, the 05ers battled their way to a long-awaited three points in front of their home crowd. With twelve points, Urs Fischer’s side climb up to 16th place in the Bundesliga table.

One change from the weekend

Benedict Hollerbach, who scored his first Bundesliga goal for Mainz in the 2-2 draw against Union Berlin, was not part of the squad due to coming down with a flu-like illness. Armindo Sieb was brought in to replace him, with head coach Fischer making no further changes to his starting XI. Ben Bobzien and Fabio Moreno Fell were brought onto the bench for Hollerbach and the also-ill Nelson Weiper.

05ers lead after goalkeeping error

The game against a fellow relegation rival started as expected, with a lot of intensity and duels both on the ground and in the air. Neither team created much in the opening exchanges, except for Niki Veratschnig, who unleashed a thunderbolt of an effort from 30 yards out, which forced goalkeeper Diant Ramaj into a good save (8’). The visitors had their first effort through Mikkel Kaufmann (11’), but it was just as harmless as Phillip Tietz’s header straight after down the other end. Chances were few and far between, as the visitors offered almost nothing going forward, while remaining compact in defence. Daniel Batz had to use his hands for the first time in the 25th minute to deny an effort from Marvin Pieringer. Mainz’s goalkeeper was then forced into a much better save a minute later by Benedikt Gimber.

It took a combination of Mainz’s captain and a goalkeeping error to open the scoring and give the 05ers a surprise lead. Ramaj cleared the ball too short, Jae-sung Lee picked it up near the penalty area and quickly played it on to Widmer, who finished first time from inside the box to make it 1-0 (30’). It was bad news for the hosts once the celebrations had finished, as Veratschnig was forced to leave the pitch with an injury. Kacper Potulski was brought on and slotted into central defence, with Danny da Costa moving to the right flank and Widmer swapping to the left (34’). The goal gave the hosts a boost. Amiri narrowly missed from a Lee cross, before Tietz flicked a header just wide of the far post (36’). No more real chances came about for the rest of the half, and so Sven Jablonski’s half-time whistle sent the two sides into the break with Mainz holding a slender but deserved lead.

Wild second half with a happy ending for 05ers

The second half could hardly have started better for Mainz than with Amiri’s strike to make it 2-0. The Germany international benefited from a perfect understanding with Tietz. On the first attempt, a Heidenheim defender got a leg in the way, but in the next move Amiri finished the one-two with a volley to score Mainz’s second goal of the evening (48’). The 05ers nearly rewarded their energetic start to the second half with a third goal shortly afterward. Ramaj got his hands up just in time to deny Sieb’s shot, and Widmer’s volley then flashed just wide (52’, 53’). Sieb was brought off after just under an hour, with Paul Nebel coming into what had become a quite entertaining match. The visitors suddenly got one back, seemingly out of nothing, as Stefan Schimmer found himself perfectly placed to finish the rebound after an Arijon Ibrahimović effort (60’).

The 2-1 scoreline meant the visitors were back in the game, and they wasted no time in putting Mainz under pressure. Ibrahimović, Sirlord Conteh and Andreas Beck all had chances to equalise for Heidenheim (63’, 64’, 65’), as the match swung back and forth. The 05ers managed to ride out this wild spell and soon had another chance through the hard-working Tietz. After a long ball, the Mainz striker got up before Ramaj but headed it just over the visitors’ goal (79’). In the closing stages, the visitors stepped up the pressure again and threw everything forward. In the 86th minute, the 05ers could thank both their goalkeeper and the crossbar, as Ibrahimović’s deflected shot landed just in front of the line. Lennard Maloney and Arnaud Nordin were brought on to help see the lead through ahead of five minutes of stoppage time, with Tietz and Amiri leaving the pitch. The scoreline stayed at 2-1, meaning the 05ers could celebrate a long-awaited home win and an all-important three points together with their fans.