05ers battle hard and earn a point against Hoffenheim

For the sixth time this season, 1. FSV Mainz 05 failed to win a Bundesliga game at home, as they drew 1–1 with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Bo Henriksen's team deservedly trailed at halftime after an own goal by Andreas Hanche-Olsen, but they improved drastically in the second half and were able to score an equaliser through Danny da Costa. Dominik Kohr received a red card late in the game for a foul on Max Moerstadt in midfield and will miss the next few Bundesliga matches.

Henriksen made one change from the side that started in the loss against Eintracht Frankfurt, bringing Andreas Hanche-Olsen into the starting XI in place of Danny da Costa.

Struggling 05ers

The guests found their way into the match quickly and created the first chance through their record scorer Andrej Kramaric, who could only find the side netting after picking the ball up from a corner (4’). Just five minutes later, Hoffenheim had something to celebrate. Wouter Burger sent a cross into the box which Fisnik Asllani missed, but it confused Hanche-Olsen so much that the Norwegian headed the ball into his own net - 0-1 Hoffenheim (9’). Going a goal down so early was certainly not part of FSV’s match plan. Benedict Hollerbach could have struck back immediately, but he fired his first-time finish over the crossbar after a cutback from Jae-sung Lee (11’). TSG were the more dangerous team and could have made it 2-0 through Asllani, who was denied by a reflex save from Zentner 15 minutes in. Mainz struggled to find their way into the game. They did settle down defensively, but it took 29 minutes for something to happen at the other end. A Hollerbach cross found Widmer, who couldn’t direct his effort on target, and when Lee drove the ball back into the danger zone towards Amiri, the offside flag went up.

Henriksen then decided to swap Widmer and Phillipp Mwene to the opposite wings, after which Mainz looked a bit better. Not much changed in the remaining minutes of the first half, however, and the visitors headed into the break with the lead.

FSV pile on the pressure

Henriksen made two changes at the restart, with the injured Widmer being replaced by Sota Kawasaki, while Danny da Costa came on for Lennard Maloney. FSV came out of the break determined, taking control of the game and creating more and more attempts on goal. The most promising chances fell to Hollerbach (56’) and Mwene (58’), but both fired over the crossbar after being set up by Amiri and Nebel respectively. It was a period of pressure, but the hosts still had not been able to reward themselves after roughly an hour. Time was running out, and at the same time the danger of Hoffenheim counterattacks increased. It just seemed as though luck was not on the home side’s side. After around 66 minutes, Hollerbach fought his way to the byline and delivered a perfect cross for Nebel, whose header from close range missed the target by mere centimetres (66’).

Nelly Weiper came into the match for Lee shortly afterwards. The 05ers then almost conceded twice in very quick succession. Robin Zentner reacted brilliantly to deny TSG substitute Tim Lemperle (67’), before da Costa was able to clear another attempt by the striker off the line less than 60 seconds later. The match had become much more entertaining after the restart, thanks in part to the hosts, who were determined to turn the deficit around. Hollerbach was particularly eye-catching with his fine solo run in the 70th minute, but he could only find the side netting. The equaliser was coming, as FSV looked like a completely different side to the one that slogged through the first half. Da Costa failed to score with a header from very close range but did win his side a corner. The resulting delivery bobbled dangerously in the Hoffenheim box before the quick-thinking Hollerbach managed to find da Costa five yards out, with the defender making no mistake this time – 1-1 (76’).

There was still no time to relax, especially as the visitors continued to create dangerous chances, with Asllani hitting the woodwork two minutes later (78’). For a while afterwards, not much happened despite the game now being fiercely contested. That was until Dominik Kohr committed a bad foul in midfield and was shown a red card three minutes before the end, following a VAR intervention (88’). Henriksen reacted immediately and brought on Bell for Hollerbach, as they now had to survive a tough seven minutes of stoppage time. Mainz countered at the start of added time, with Kawasaki getting on the end of a Mwene cross in the centre, but he stumbled and failed to get his shot away. Despite being a man down, Mainz kept pushing and nearly grabbed a late winner. Kawasaki and Nebel drove the ball forward, but the Japanese winger’s curling effort was deflected out for a corner. Even with a strong second-half performance, the 05ers ultimately could not secure their first home win of the season and now sit on six points after eleven matches.

FSV return to action next Thursday (18:45 CET) with a Conference League match in Craiova, before Bundesliga matchday 12 sees them take on SC Freiburg three days later. There’s another floodlit night at the MEWA ARENA to look forward to in exactly two weeks’ time, as the 05ers welcome Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday, 5 December (20:30 CET).