Brilliant 05ers beat Strasbourg

A convincing performance saw 1. FSV Mainz 05 put themselves in a great position in their UECL quarter-final tie against RC Strasbourg. The hard-earned but deserved 2-0 victory over the talented French side came via goals from Kaishu Sano and Stefan Posch, who both scored stunning goals during an outstanding first half by the 05ers. In the second half, the visitors also created good chances, however FSV remained defensively solid over the full 90 minutes and could, if not should, have increased the margin further by the end. This was Strasbourg’s first loss of the season in the Conference League.

Kawasaki comes in for Lee

Urs Fischer made one change to the side that began the second round-of-16 game against Olomouc, bringing the injured Jae-sung Lee out of the team in favour of Sota Kawasaki. Nelson Weiper began alongside Phillip Tietz up top, as regular Bundesliga striker Sheraldo Becker is not eligible to play in the Conference League. U19 captain Daniel Imafidon was included in his first senior matchday squad.

Impressive performance, deserved lead

The 05ers started very well and were the more active side, winning their challenges and playing with more determination than their opponents. Good work from Sano led to Weiper having an attempt, but his shot was wide of the mark (2’). Sano himself then had a go, but his shot was blocked (4’). The visitors looked to keep possession, while Mainz consistently won the ball up high or hit them on the counter-attack. Sano won the ball back again in midfield and played a one-two with Kawasaki, before beating two opponents and curling a beautiful effort into the top corner – 1-0 FSV (11’). Daniel Batz had only been called into action once up until that point, as the visitors spent most of the time defending the Mainz onslaught. Posch struck an effort that would have nestled in the bottom corner, were it not for a strong save by Mike Penders in the Strasbourg goal. Paul Nebel swung in the resulting corner, finding an unmarked Posch to smash home on the volley – 2-0 after less than 20 minutes (19’)!

The visitors struggled to cope with Mainz’s physicality, however they did get chances to show their quality from time to time, meaning Mainz had to be aware and defend as well as they were attacking. Guela Doué had a chance from a corner 27 minutes in, but his flicked effort just cleared the crossbar. FSV were the more dangerous side in the first half and had three chances in quick succession to further extend their lead. Kawasaki was cinches away from getting on the end of Nebel’s cross, before Silvan Widmer headed straight at Penders from a corner. Tietz then had an effort from a tight angle, but he was off target. The score stayed at 2-0 until half time, as the 05ers took a deserved lead with them down the tunnel.

Chances for both sides, FSV strong at the back

FSV were brilliant in the first half, so Fischer saw no reason to change personnel at half time. The hosts continued to let Strasbourg, who seemed much more settled in the second half, have more of the ball while looking for chances to win it back and launch a counter-attack. The 05ers carried on attacking as they had done in the first half and quickly created chances. Penders was forced into a good save to deny Tietz, before Sano had another effort blocked (49’). The goalkeeper then saved another Tietz shot (53’) and Weiper headed over the bar (54’). Mainz had the greater number of chances, but that didn’t stop the visitors from creating a good one of their own. Julio Enciso was found in space in the Mainz box, but Batz reacted sharply to get down and deny the Paraguayan’s driven effort (57’).

Mainz’s effort – especially against Strasbourg’s quick wingers – began to show. Fischer reacted and made a triple substitution just before the 70th-minute mark, bringing Niki Veratschnig, Armindo Sieb and William Bøving on for Phillipp Mwene, Kawasaki and Weiper. Strasbourg began to play in the Mainz half more often and were denied a goal back, first by the crossbar and then Batz (75’). Despite the pressure, Mainz found space for counterattacks. Kohr’s shot was saved by Penders before Sieb missed a huge chance from a very tight angle to seal the game (78’). Shortly afterwards, captain Widmer was brought off, with Kacper Potulski coming on and Danny da Costa moving to right wing-back. The only real criticism of Mainz’s performance was their finishing. Sano, who was arguably the best player on the pitch, once again broke through and set up Sieb, whose slightly mishit effort was narrowly missed by Tietz (89’). Lennard Maloney came on for Nebel in stoppage time to help see out the clean sheet. The final whistle confirmed a 2-0 win, at which point the stadium erupted.

The 05ers head to France in a week’s time for the second leg (21:00 CEST), but before that, they have a Bundesliga clash with SC Freiburg to contest at the MEWA ARENA (Sunday, 19:30 CEST).