Silas’ solo effort seals victory in Leipzig

A brave, determined performance from the whole team, as well as goals from Nadiem Amiri and Silas meant that 1. FSV Mainz 05 earned themselves three more points as they look to escape from the relegation battle. Mainz put in a strong performance, especially in the first half, in their 2-1 win away at RB Leipzig, while also having to shake off the shock of seeing their teammate Benedict Hollerbach stretchered off early on in the first half. Amiri’s stoppage-time penalty in the first half cancelled out the Leipzig opener, before Silas’ solo goal shortly after the restart won the game for the 05ers. Through skill, a bit of luck and plenty of passion, Mainz defended their lead against a top side and took home all three points. With 18 points after 20 games, the 05ers have further improved their position in the fight to avoid relegation and are now in 15th place.

300 Bundesliga games for Bell

Nadiem Amiri was forced to start the game against Wolfsburg on the bench, as he was still working his way back to full fitness after illness. Mainz’s midfield maestro made his return to the starting XI against Leipzig, with Paul Nebel dropping to the bench. Dominik Kohr’s suspension due to accumulation of yellow cards meant that Kacper Potulski was brought in from the start. There was also a special milestone to celebrate for one of Potulski’s defensive colleagues, as Stefan Bell made his 300th Bundesliga appearance for the 05ers.

Hollerbach forced off early, Amiri nets equaliser

“It’s about being compact, but like we said against Bayern, it’s also about doing something with the ball. Just chasing the ball will be difficult in the long run,” said head coach Urs Fischer in his pre-match press conference, stressing that his side had to pay attention to Leipzig's pace and at the same time have the confidence to play football themselves. The 05ers took this on board, starting bravely and creating chances. A lovely ball from Jae-sung Lee found Hollerbach in behind after just five minutes, but he was brought down in the box by El Chadaille Bitshiabu as he went to finish. Not enough contact for a penalty, though, according to referee Daniel Schlager. The early Mainz pressure saw them hunting for more, however the early joy quickly faded, as Hollerbach went down injured and had to be stretchered off. Silas was then brought on to replace him (13’). Despite the shock of seeing a teammate suffer an injury, the 05ers carried on searching for an opening goal. Silvan Widmer saw his effort deflected (19’), before Phillip Tietz had a massive chance following a Danny da Costa cross, however he could only watch as his header went just wide of the post (20’).

The biggest chances of the first 25 minutes fell to the 05ers, who rarely gave Leipzig any joy in their one-on-ones out wide or in their link-up play. The hosts looked to up the tempo and started to get closer to Daniel Batz’s goal. An Antonio Nusa cross narrowly missed the head of Conrad Harder and went behind for a goal kick. After half an hour, the crowd were yet to witness a goal, but they had seen a very strong performance from the visiting side. Mainz repeatedly created dangerous and quick attacks after winning possession. One of these led to a fine cross from Silas, which Tietz was a toe away from connecting with (38’). The hosts then had more success down the other end. Nusa used his explosive pace to beat da Costa down the left-hand side and crossed into the area, where Harder was waiting to head home the opening goal – 1-0 Leipzig (39’). Mainz proved to be a dangerous side throughout the first half and were largely in control except for that one brief moment. The reward for their efforts came in stoppage time, as Tietz was judged to have been brought down in the Leipzig box. Amiri stepped up and gave Gulacsi no chance – 1-1 (45+6’). Half time came with the score still level, with the Mainz equaliser fully deserved after their strong performance.

Silas' solo effort seals victory

Both sides came out for the second half unchanged, as Leipzig started quickly and had the first effort through Romulo almost immediately. FSV took their first-half momentum with them into the restart and took the lead quickly. And what a goal it was! Some good play in midfield led to Tietz spreading the ball out wide to Silas, who beat the first man, before running at pace towards the Leipzig box to take on more defenders. He cut inside onto his right foot and unleashed a fierce effort from close range which left Gulacsi helpless – 2-1 Mainz (49’). The goal was as impressive as it was deserved. Mainz kept up the pressure and carried on disrupting the hosts’ attacks. However, the quality of Leipzig was evident and not every attack could be prevented by the 05ers. Luckily for them, the post came to the rescue to deny Romulo, who had managed to get on the end of a Yan Diomande cross (61’).

That marked the start of a period of Leipzig pressure, as they looked to use the pace of Nusa and Diomande as much as they could. Potulski put in a fine challenge on Harder to deny the striker a free shot at Batz’s goal in the 71st minute. Dangerous situations in and around the Mainz penalty area were becoming more frequent. Fischer reacted and brought on Lennard Maloney for the final 20 minutes in place of Amiri. Leipzig looked to create chances often, but couldn’t find a way past a stable Mainz defence. Daniel Batz made a good save at his near post against Ezechiel Banzuzi, before Gulacsi was forced into an almost identical save down the other end to deny Kaishu Sano (73’). Paul Nebel, Nelson Weiper and Phillipp Mwene were then brought on in place of Tietz, Widmer and goalscorer Silas to bring some fresh legs into the fray, as Mainz switched to their 5-4-1 formation. Leipzig tried everything and Mainz had to make a lot of tackles and do a lot of running in their own half, which they did successfully with skill, passion and a little bit of luck, such as Willi Orban’s failure to get on the end of a misplaced Mwene pass. It was then just five minutes of added time that stood between Mainz and a crucial away victory, which they weathered. The 05ers and their travelling fans were then able to celebrate a well-earned three points.