FSV suffer defeat against Leipzig

Mainz had to accept another tough 1-0 loss in their meeting with RB Leipzig at the MEWA ARENA on Saturday. The hosts were lucky to not be behind early on after starting the game poorly, however they did fight to get into the game and ended up creating a number of dangerous opportunities. The visitors scored the only goal of the afternoon through Johan Bakayoko shortly before half time. Mainz looked better after the break, but ultimately lacked attacking prowess and creativity, especially in the closing stages, against an opponent who was only interested in seeing the game out.

Bo Henriksen made one change from the side that started against Wolfsburg before the international break, bringing new signing William Bøving in to replace the injured Jae-sung Lee. FSV also had to go without the suspended Paul Nebel, however the midfielder will be available for the next matchday.

A first 15 to forget

The visitors had the much better start to the game and probably should have gone ahead early on. Their first chance came after just two minutes, as David Raum fired his 20-yard free-kick just over the bar. Mainz were forced to sit deep and struggled to find any sort of foothold in the game, while the visitors created more chances. Their next opportunity came when local lad Ridle Baku’s cross found an unmarked Romulo, who was unable to find the back of the net (4’). Leipzig were the much better side and got a golden opportunity to take the lead after nine minutes, when Xaver Schlager’s through ball found Bakayoko in behind, only for his shot to clip the post and go wide. Shortly after, boss Bo Henriksen was compelled to make an early substitution: having been booked early on, Stefan Bell was lucky not to be sent off after committing another foul, prompting him to be replaced by Andreas Hanche-Olsen after 15 minutes. The first 05ers chance came shortly before, when Nelson Weiper’s header was caught by Peter Gulacsi following an Anthony Caci cross (14’). The 15 minutes of constant Leipzig pressure ended here, as the hosts began to settle into the game.

It didn’t take long for Arnaud Nordin to then have FSV’s first real dangerous chance – his shot crashed against the woodwork and fell to Amiri, who fired over from the edge of the box. Mainz really managed to sink their teeth into the game and kept their opponents busy; a far cry from their performance in the first 15 minutes. Nordin then struck another curling effort goalwards which fell just the wrong side of the far post (25’). The electric winger was involved again just a minute later, as he made a run down the right-hand side and fired a low cross which found Mwene in the middle, however the wing-back couldn’t keep his effort down. The game was turning into a back-and-forth encounter with both teams creating chances.   On the half-hour mark, a shot from Antonio Nusa fizzed past Robin Zentner’s far post, however Leipzig’s next shot then did find its target. Bakayoko cut in from the right-hand side and drilled a shot from 20 yards inside the near post past Zentner, although the visitors also had the passive nature of Mainz’s defending to thank for the opener. Nusa could have doubled Leipzig’s lead, before Nordin had another chance two minutes before the break, combining with Mwene and Amiri, and forcing Gulacsi into a fingertip save (43'). After an eventful first half, the visitors took their deserved albeit narrow lead into the break.

Tightly-contested second half, but FSV still harmless

Neither side made a change at the break, yet it was the hosts who came out better and looked to control the game. Dominik Kohr made a dangerous run into the box after 55 minutes, however his shot was blocked by a defender’s leg. The away side chose to sit back and wait for chances to counter attack, which did come about. After roughly an hour, Ezechiel Banzuzi cut through the Mainz midfield and found Christoph Baumgartner, who fired inches wide from just inside the box (62’). Down the other end, Weiper finally found some space away from Willi Orban, but was denied by Gulacsi from a promising position. The Mainz local had, however, apparently started from an offside position. Shortly after, new signing William Bøving was replaced by Armindo Sieb (65’). Everything pointed to a thrilling conclusion. In the 70th minute, Sieb made his first contribution, but his shot from ten yards was blocked by the Leipzig defence. Substitute Conrad Harder came even closer as RBL broke away, although his shot narrowly missed the Mainz goal.

In the 75th minute, after Kohr had once again failed to hit the target, the 05ers used their last set of substitutions. Silvan Widmer, Nikolas Veratschnig, and Bundesliga debutant Sota Kawasaki came on for Caci, Mwene, and Nordin. Against a well-organised opponent, it became increasingly difficult to find gaps, while FSV gave their opponents more and more space. Ten minutes before the end, Romulo was away and could have sealed the deal, but was stopped by Veratschnig after a heroic recovery. Time was running out for Mainz, who were now looking less determined and incisive than at the beginning of the half, and a string of hopeful long balls in five minutes of added time ultimately amounted to nothing.

With three matchdays down, Mainz will head to Augsburg in exactly one week’s time with still just one point on the board. There are two weeks before their next home game in the Bundesliga, when the 05ers welcome Borussia Dortmund to the MEWA ARENA.