FSV lose late on against Frankfurt

Mainz suffered as narrow 1-0 defeat away at Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday evening. It was a largely uneventful match for the most part, with the hosts increasing their pressure somewhat after the break, before Ritsu Doan scored a late winner (81’). Mainz tried to recover after conceding, but xouldn’t find the equaliser and so head into the international break empty handed.

Boss Bo Henriksen made four changes to the side that started the 2-1 victory over Fiorentina on Thursday: Armindo Sieb, Sota Kawasaki, Nelson Weiper and Kacper Potulski were given a rest, with Benedict Hollerbach, Jae-sung Lee, Kaishu Sano and captain Silvan Widmer taking their places. Stefan Bell made his return to the squad, with Andreas Hanche-Olsen dropping out due to a flu-like sickness.

Quiet first half with few highlights

The derby began at a rather leisurely pace in the opening exchanges, with goalscoring opportunities hard to come by at both ends. Frankfurt registered the first attempt, but before Farès Chaïbi could take a shot, the ball went out of play on the right of the Mainz goal (6'). In this early stage of the match, both teams managed to cancel each other’s attacking efforts out, so most of the game took place in midfield. Mainz had their first real chance after a ball from Benedict Hollerbach, who had managed to get past Rasmus Kristensen. His cross narrowly missed Phillipp Mwene at the far post, as Arthur Theate headed clear (20').

As the first half went on, the match remained slow, marked by frequent turnovers from both teams, making dangerous attacks a rarity for both sides. This pattern continued into the closing phase of the first half. Only occasional lapses in concentration from the defences led to promising situations in the final third, but these chances came to nothing. It was no surprise that the teams went into halftime with the score still level at 0–0.

Frankfurt turn it up a notch and score late on

The hosts made a double change at the break, while Henriksen chose to send his side out unchanged. The hosts emerged from the dressing room with much more energy, immediately pushing into Mainz’s half after the restart. The first real threat for FSV came in the 54th minute, when Kristensen found Ansgar Knauff inside the penalty area. The Frankfurt winger was completely unmarked for a header but could only find the arms of Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner. Just two minutes later, Knauff had another go — this time from around 15 yards — but his shot missed to the right (56’). Mainz often cleared the ball straight back to their opponents, allowing Frankfurt to regain possession and launch more attacks. The next promising opportunity for the hosts came from a set piece: Mahmoud Dahoud took a free kick from a central position, but his shot sailed over the Mainz goal (70’). Immediately afterward, Henriksen made his first substitution — Hollerbach came off, and Armindo Sieb entered to provide fresh attacking legs.

During this phase, Mainz increasingly looked to capitalise on Frankfurt’s mistakes and managed to win the ball several times in the opponent’s half, occasionally putting themselves in promising positions, but without making anything of it. Frankfurt continued to break into FSV’s final third, though their finishing often lacked precision, meaning Zentner remained largely unbothered. Then came the decisive moment: the Mainz goalkeeper was finally beaten after a solo effort from Ritsu Dōan. The Japanese attacker broke through on the right side of the box and fired his shot into the far corner — 1–0 for Eintracht Frankfurt (81’). In the closing minutes, Henriksen brought on Nikolas Veratschnig for Phillipp Mwene (90’). Mainz took more risks in the final minutes and even managed to pin Frankfurt back near their penalty area for periods, but they couldn’t find the equaliser. The game finished 1-0 to the hosts, meaning Mainz remain in 17th place in the Bundesliga table.

After the international break, Mainz will host TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at the MEWA ARENA on Friday, 21st November (20:30 CET).