Mainz 05 maintain perfect pre-season record

New signing Otto Ruoppi set up Phillip Tietz for the opening goal.

In their fourth pre-season friendly of the summer, 1. FSV Mainz 05 once again lived up to their billing as favourites. On Saturday afternoon, Urs Fischer’s side beat Holstein Kiel 3-0 (2-0) thanks to goals from Phillip Tietz, Ransford Königsdörffer and William Böving. The visitors had several chances to score a consolation goal in the second half, both with their feet and with their heads, but were denied in no small part by Mainz’s two goalkeepers, Robin Zentner and Maximilian Kinzig.

Urs Fischer said after the final whistle: “We were not as precise or as clean in possession today. The lads also said that they felt exhausted. But we are not taking that into account, we are continuing to work intensively on the basics. The first two goals came because we pressed high, and in that respect it was a good performance. So there were good things, but also things that were not so good, such as our build-up play. Kiel also had a little too much of the ball after the break, and that is something we need to keep working on,” said the head coach.

Tietz doesn't waste any time

In sweltering summer temperatures, the 2,500 or so fans saw an extremely entertaining start to the friendly, with both sides making early inroads towards goal. The hosts quickly gained the upper hand and looked sharper than their opponents in both pressing and challenges, with Kiel’s 2. Bundesliga opener already just two weeks away. The five-day training break for recovery purposes seemed to have done Mainz good ahead of their departure for training camp on Monday, while the crowd also played its part. After 14 minutes, there was finally reason to celebrate: the tireless Otto Ruoppi had repeatedly caused problems for Kiel in their build-up play until Jonas Therkelsen misplaced a pass in the centre, and Tietz needed no second invitation from around 40 metres. The advanced Lio Rothenhagen was powerless to stop the Mainz striker’s first-time finish. The visitors now struggled to get anywhere near the penalty area and were repeatedly put under pressure while building from the back in their own half. The same happened after half an hour, when Rael Nakuzola paved the way for the second goal. The wing-back poked the ball away from Faride Alidou, released Königsdörffer, who took one or two extra touches before finishing ice-cold from twelve metres (30’). Mainz had everything under control through to the end of the first 50 minutes and went into the break with a fully deserved lead. The FSV XI were sent off into the dressing rooms at half-time to warm applause.

Kiel were more active, but FSV scored the goal.

Shortly after the restart, Zentner was called into action for the first time, reacting well to tip Ivan Nekic’s header over the crossbar (52’). What had already been hinted at in that moment was confirmed in the minutes that followed: Kiel were not prepared to simply accept their fate without putting up resistance or creating chances. The opening quarter of the second half therefore belonged to the visitors, although Mainz came through this brief spell of pressure unscathed. After just over an hour, FSV almost benefited from another dreadful misplaced pass in the Kiel defence, but this time Rothenbach was able to deny Böving from close range (62’). The game had now become much more open, also influenced by numerous changes on both sides, and Mainz’s defensive cover against counter-attacks was tested far more often than in the first period. That was also the case in the 68th minute, when Phil Harres tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area at full pace, but was denied by Zentner. Mainz proved far more efficient, finally putting the game beyond doubt after three quarters of the contest. The hosts combined cleanly from their own penalty area into the opposition half, where Andreas Hanche-Olsen picked out Böving with a delightful pass, leaving the Dane to finish with a delicate lob from 20 metres (75’). Harres had another chance to add some respectability to the scoreline shortly afterwards, but headed over from eight metres (77’). Nine minutes later at the latest, no Kiel player could realistically have believed they would find the net that afternoon. After Daniel Imafidon lost possession, the visitors broke forward at lightning speed, with Adrian Kapralik squaring the ball to Harres, who was completely free but could not get his effort past substitute Maximilian Kinzig (86’). Mainz almost added another goal immediately at the other end, as Sheraldo Becker delivered a delicate cross from the left for Alynho Haidara, who missed out on his first Mainz goal one day before his 18th birthday only because Rothenhagen brilliantly kept out the youngster’s header. It was the final clear-cut chance of a match that Mainz deservedly won, although Kiel should really have contributed at least one goal of their own.

Mainz will travel to their ten-day training camp in Hopfgarten in the Hohe Salve region on Monday morning. Alongside numerous on-pitch training sessions, the schedule will also include two friendlies, against Shabab Al Ahli on Friday and Udinese on Saturday, as well as team-building activities. Apart from Silvan Widmer, who is not expected back at Bruchweg until 6 August, the other national-team players Nadiem Amiri, Jae-sung Lee, Phillipp Mwene and Kaishu Sano will also join up with the squad during the training camp.

FSV - KSV 3:0 (2:0)

FSV : Zentner (80' Kinzig) - Caci (66' Richter), Kohr (66' Bell), Gruber (66' Hanche-Olsen), da Costa (66' Imafidon), Nakuzola (51' Kawasaki) - Martel (51' Maloney), Ruoppi (51' Böving), Nebel (51' Yamasaki) - Tietz (51' Becker), Königsdörffer (66' Haidara)

Goals : 1-0 Tietz (14'), 2-0 Königsdörffer (30'), 3-0 Böving (75')

Attendance : 2,600
Referee : Sebastian Hilsberg (Lukas Jungfleisch, Jason Lieser)