Defeat in the DFB-Pokal

Mainz’s DFB-Pokal campaign has ended in the second round, as the 05ers were beaten 2-0 by VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday evening – their second loss to them in less than a week. The visitors scored early on through Luca Jaquez who found himself unmarked from a corner. Mainz fought hard for the whole 90 minutes, but ultimately lacked that final bit of quality in the final third. A solid performance from Sebastian Hoeneß’s side was enough to see them through, as they defended well and were clinical in their finishing, with their second goal coming from Atakan Karazor.

Three changes from Saturday’s defeat

Bo Henriksen had already stated that he would be rotating his squad, and so made three changes from Saturday’s game in Stuttgart. Armindo Sieb came in for Benedict Hollerbach in the attack, while Stefan Bell and Danny da Costa were rested in favour of Andreas Hanche-Olsen and Lennard Maloney. Bell and da Costa were not in the matchday squad as they manage their workload in the 05ers’ busy schedule. 

FSV show spirit but behind at the break

The 05ers’ focus last Saturday in Stuttgart was keeping a strong, stable defence, while in the game at the MEWA ARENA, it took less than 30 seconds for referee Deniz Aytekin to reach into his pocket and caution Hanche-Olsen after a strong challenge. Mainz kept pushing forwards, trying to find their way into the game and winning their tackles. Stuttgart defended well though, winning the majority of challenges before taking the lead from the game’s first corner. Jaquez was unmarked in the six-yard box from the corner and was able to simply nod the ball home (6’). Mainz had their first attempt through Armindo Sieb three minutes later, but his shot went well wide. The visitors were the dominant side and kept getting into dangerous areas, while FSV lacked that final bit of luck in the final third. The away side deserved to be in front.

Mainz did look better once they’d settled into the game, but still lacked the final bit of quality in front of goal. Silvan Widmer had an effort that went well wide, before Nadiem Amiri then had an effort which was easily collected by Fabian Bredlow (24’). These two attempts marked the start of a much better spell for Mainz, both going forwards and in defence. The hosts looked to attack the Stuttgart defence through Amiri and Nebel, however there was still a lack of quality and poor decision making. The visitors, despite their strong start, offered very little going forwards from this point. FSV were often late into challenges and struggled to get consistent attacks going or create real goalscoring opportunities. Robin Zentner prevented Badredine Bouanani from doubling his side’s lead with a brilliant save in first-half stoppage time, meaning Stuttgart went into the break with a narrow advantage.

FSV sloppy in front of goal, VfB clinical

Mainz didn’t make a change at half time and Stuttgart began the second half with a fantastic chance. A weak headed clearance fell to Deniz Undav, but he couldn’t get his effort on target (46’). Three minutes later, Sieb looked to be in on goal, but his touch was too heavy and ran straight through to Bredlow. The visitors kept up their attacking momentum, albeit through pretty harmless efforts from Undav and Angelo Stiller. Mainz assistant coach Michael Silberbauer, who was standing in for the suspended Bo Henriksen, made his first changes on the hour mark bringing Nelson Weiper and Benedict Hollerbach on for Sieb and Jae-sung Lee.

The two substitutes had an immediate impact, as Weiper’s cross narrowly missed Hollerbach in the middle of the box (62’). He then did connect with the ball three minutes later, but his shot was blocked by a Stuttgart leg. Phillipp Mwene and Widmer were then substituted for Arnaud Nordin and Niki Veratschnig, to try and bring some more pace down the wings for the final 25 minutes. Their difference was noticeable, however their efforts were not enough to snatch the equaliser. VfB occasionally looked to get in behind Mainz, first of all through Chris Führich, who saw his 70th minute attempt fly over Zentner’s goal. They were not so wasteful with their second chance though, as they pounced upon a Sano clearance before finding Atakan Karazor at the back post, who slotted into the far corner (73’). Zentner then kept his side in the game with a close-range stop against Josha Vagnoman (77’). The hosts could not be said to have been lacking effort or determination and tried everything they could to reduce the deficit. They still failed to create real goalscoring opportunities though, with their best chance after going two goals down coming from Hanche-Olsen, but his effort from near the penalty spot was held by Bredlow (80’). William Bøving came on for Maloney in the final minutes to give another attacking option. The last few Mainz attacks just fizzled out thanks to the focus and defensive determination shown by their opponents, who ultimately deserved their spot in the DFB-Pokal round of 16.

Home to Bremen next

Attention turns now to the next Bundesliga game at home to Werder Bremen. Mainz welcome Werder to the MEWA ARENA on Saturday, 1st November (15:30 CET), as they look to improve on a slow start to this season’s league campaign.