FSV held to 1-1 draw at home against Werder

Despite performing brilliantly for long periods of the match, 1. FSV Mainz were held to a draw at home to Werder Bremen. The 05ers will rue their missed chances and will see this as two points dropped rather than a point gained, as they fail to get out of the relegation zone. The hosts dominated the game for long periods and deserved to lead after Silvan Widmer’s strike opened the scoring, but missed opportunities to extend their advantage over a rather harmless Bremen side. A Jens Stage equaliser earned the visitors a point late on.

Boss Bo Henriksen made one change to the side that was knocked out of the DFB-Pokal during the week, bringing Benedict Hollerbach into the starting XI in place of Armindo Sieb. There was a new face on the Mainz bench, as U23 striker Fabio Moreno Fell was included in his first matchday squad with the senior side, having netted eight times in 13 Regionalliga-Südwest matches so far this season.

Mainz look dangerous, Widmer nets the opener

FSV started the game in the sold-out and noisy MEWA ARENA by piling the pressure on their opponents. Their first attempt came after just five minutes through a shot from Nadiem Amiri which was blocked by a defender, before Jae-sung Lee saw his header easily saved by Mio Backhaus just 60 seconds later. Although they rarely seemed dangerous, it was the away side who created the best chance on the 15-minute mark: Romano Schmid found Marco Grüll in behind, who cut inside past Dominik Kohr, but his effort was tame and straight at Robin Zentner. The game settled down after that, with neither side creating any real chances, until the 05ers almost took the lead after 25 minutes. The ball went over the heads of Paul Nebel and Hollerbach and landed at the feet of Amiri, who found Phillipp Mwene on the left-hand side of the box. The Austrian could only watch as his curling effort clipped the top of the crossbar and went behind for a goal-kick.

Mainz were the better side and created far more chances than their opponents, while also having more possession and a better success rate in challenges. The decision to play Lee in the central attacking role and bring Hollerbach out onto the left flank certainly benefitted the 05ers, as it allowed Hollerbach to make more runs in behind and play a key role in his side’s opening goal. A cross from Mwene was only half dealt with by the Bremen defence and landed at the feet of Widmer, who forced a fine save from Backhaus. Hollerbach picked up the rebound on the goal line and set it back to the Mainz captain, who smashed it home from 10 yards out and made it 1-0 to the home side (36’).

Mainz search for a second but get punished

Bremen made one change at half time, while the 05ers remained as they were at kick-off. It took just two minutes before Mainz were knocking on Werder’s door again, and it took an Amos Pieper goal-line clearance to stop Lennard Maloney from doubling the home side’s advantage from a corner (47’). Mainz kept up the pressure, as Hollerbach ran from inside his own half towards the Werder goal, but his cross was stopped by Backhaus before it could reach Lee and Nebel (52’). Five minutes later, Hollerbach played a one-two with Lee and had a strike from outside the box, but Bremen’s goalkeeper stood strong and made the save (57’). Bremen offered very little going forwards – the only thing missing from a Mainz perspective was a second goal which would surely have finished the game off. Hollerbach had the chance to do just that, but could not get on the end of Nebel’s 62nd-minute cross. The fact it was still just a one-goal lead nearly cost the 05ers dearly, when Justin Njinmah was played in behind by Cameron Puertas, however the striker missed his one-on-one with Zentner (65’). Henriksen made his first substitution in the 69th minute, bringing Sieb on in place of Hollerbach.

The closing stages began with another Mainz change, as Danny da Costa and Nikki Veratschnig were brought on for Widmer and Mwene (77’). Mainz looked a tired side and got forward less and less, meaning Werder started to get more into the game and believed they could get something out of it. Pieper played a long ball into the box which was headed up by Andreas Hanche-Olsen at the back post, before falling to Jens Stage, who volleyed it into the far corner, giving Zentner no chance (87’). That lucky goal was a bitter pill to swallow for those in red and white. Henriksen reacted straight away and brought Nelly Weiper and Arnaud Nordin on for Lee and Nebel to get some fresh legs on at the top of the pitch. There wasn’t to be enough time for the 05ers though. Bremen’s goalscorer nearly snatched a late winner, but was denied brilliantly by Zentner (90+1’). None of the subsequent long balls played into the Bremen box posed a threat, meaning that the visiting side take home a rather fortunate point. This afternoon’s draw means that Mainz are still without a home win this season.

Matchday 3 of the UEFA Conference League is next on the schedule for the 05ers ahead of this year’s final international break, as they welcome AC Fiorentina to the MEWA ARENA (Thursday, 6th November, 18:45 CET). It’s derby day in the Bundesliga next weekend, as FSV make the short trip to face Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday (19:30 CET).