FSV fight back to earn a point at home against Eintracht Frankfurt

1. FC Mainz 05 managed to come back to earn a 1-1 draw at home against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday evening. The visitors had taken the lead in the 16th minute through Rasmus Kristensen, while FSV were forced into making two injury-enforced changes in the opening half. Jonny Burkardt then managed to net an equaliser in the second half with what was his 16th goal of the season, making him the first FSV player to find the back of the net as often in a single Bundesliga season. 

Henriksen was forced to make one change to his starting line-up following last weekend’s defeat in Munich as Robin Zentner was unavailable due to a thigh muscle issue. Lasse Rieß started between the sticks in his place, with the 23-year-old making his Bundesliga debut for the club. 

Several setbacks in the first half

It didn’t take long for the more than 33,000 spectators at the MEWA ARENA to witness the first good opportunity of the match. Hugo Ekitiké found himself one-on-one with Rieß not even 60 seconds after kick off, but was unable to beat the FSV goalkeeper. Mainz enjoyed more possession in the opening quarter of an hour (63%), but struggled to turn this dominance into chances on goal. The hosts then suffered their first setback of the game in the 10th minute, as Dominik Kohr was forced off with an apparent knee injury after slipping on the pitch. Stefan Bell was brought on to replace him in defence. Five minutes later, Frankfurt were able to open the scoring through Rasmus Kristensen. Ekitiké was able to control the ball in midfield before laying it off for Kristensen, who slotted it past Rieß from inside the box (16’). Henriksen was then forced to make another substitution due to injury after Danny da Costa was unable to continue with what looked like a thigh muscle injury. Silvan Widmer came on in his place, as FSV had to alter their backline for the second time inside the opening half an hour (26’). 

FSV were then able to record their first forays into the opposition box in the minutes that followed. Andreas Hanche-Olsen sent a shot over the crossbar, while Bell had an attempt blocked following a corner. Burkardt and Paul Nebel then combined to bring the ball up the pitch to Jae-sung Lee, but his attempt was blocked. The 05ers looked to be close to netting an equaliser in this period of the match, which then had to be interrupted for several minutes as projectiles were being thrown onto the pitch from the away stands. Lee then managed to head the ball into the back of the net following a cross from Caci, but it wouldn’t count as the lineman’s flag was up in a narrow – but correct – offside call against the South Korean. Shortly after, both Ekitiké and Ansgar Knauff missed opportunities in quick succession. 

FSV net the equaliser 

Neither side made any changes at the break, with FSV now having just one of their three substitution windows left to use. With Eintracht predominantly finding themselves defending following the restart, Mainz were soon able to turn their near-constant pressure into a goal. Widmer’s throw-in was flicked on by Bell towards the far post, where it was met by Burkardt and turned in for a well-deserved equaliser (57’). 

Two minutes later, Amiri attempted a shot from 24 metres out but Kevin Trapp was equal to it (59’). Just 120 seconds later, Kaishu Sano unleashed a shot from just inside the box that flashed just wide of the target (61’). SGE were looking to use long balls as a way of finding their way past the Mainz backline, a tactic that nearly paid off in the 69th minute. Ekitiké had managed to find his way into a bit of space behind Hanche-Olsen, but his attempt at a chip went high and wide. As the final 15 minutes of the match got underway, Bell was able to test Trapp with a header (77’). Shortly after, Henriksen made his final changes of the night, bringing on Nikolas Veratschnig, Hyunseok Hong and Nelly Weiper for Phillipp Mwene, Caci and Lee (81’). With six minutes left on the clock, Amiri combined with Hong for a well-timed one-two, but the midfielder’s shot was blocked (84’). Just minutes later, it was once again Ekitiké who ensured that the pulse of every Mainz fan watching once again sky-rocketed, as he picked off a misplayed back pass on his way to charging towards goal. Fortunately for the hosts, the striker’s shot lacked precision and only hit the side-netting (88’). There was no shortage of chances in the final moments of the match, with Burkardt nearly netting his second of the night. Weiper played a perfectly-timed pass into the path of the striker, but his effort went over the bar (90’). As the end of second-half injury time approached, it was Sano who managed to drive his way down the right flank before delivering a cross into the box. Neither Weiper nor Burkardt were able to poke it over the line, however. It would go on to be the last chance of the match. 

The 05ers therefore remain in seventh place with 48 points from 32 matchdays. Next Saturday, they will travel to face VfL Bochum in their penultimate match of the season (15:30 CEST), before hosting Bayer 04 Leverkusen in front of a sold-out crowd at the MEWA ARENA on the final day.