Tietz bags brace as Mainz beat Hoffenheim

1. FSV Mainz 05 secured their third consecutive Bundesliga win on Saturday afternoon, beating TSG Hoffenheim 2-1 in Sinsheim. A Phillip Tietz brace was enough to see the 05ers collect all three points. A first half that saw Hoffenheim miss chances to take the lead after equalising was followed by a much more even second half. Urs Fischer’s side now sit on 33 points after 28 games, putting them in ninth place.

Unchanged starting XI

Fischer saw no reason to make changes to the side that won the Rhine-Main derby before the international break, fielding the exact same starting XI.

Level at the break

“It’s about sticking to the basics. But we’re definitely not going to Hoffenheim just to defend. We want to be brave and play at our limit,” Fischer had said ahead of the match against the Champions League hopefuls. The 4,500 travelling 05ers only had to wait four minutes for the first chance, as Tietz got his head on the end of a Paul Nebel cross. He headed wide, but it wouldn’t have counted anyway, as the linesman had spotted an offside. The game took about ten minutes to get going, but after that both teams stepped things up going forwards. Fisnik Asllani found himself with the ball after a corner, but couldn’t keep his effort down, before Daniel Batz then had to make a save to deny Tim Lemperle’s header. Moments later, Mainz launched their first promising attack and were immediately rewarded. Sheraldo Becker just missed a Nebel cross from the right, but Phillipp Mwene recovered the ball. His cross from the opposite side found Tietz perfectly, who headed home to give Mainz the lead (13’). The hosts took control of possession and pressed high after they lost it, forcing Mainz further and further backwards. Stefan Posch’s clearance hit a Hoffenheim player and bounced to Asllani, who turned and hit a quite brilliant shot from distance – 1-1 (23’).

Mainz almost responded immediately, but Jae-sung Lee’s close-range header from a Nebel cross was too central and saved by Oliver Baumann (25’). It was certainly an entertaining game at the PreZero Arena, with both teams looking good going forwards. Hoffenheim pushed hard and could have taken the lead, but Alexander Prass slipped after rounding Batz. Mainz’s goalkeeper had no problem dealing with Coufal’s follow-up effort, nor was he troubled by an Albian Hajdari header just minutes later (28’, 31’). Fischer made an early change, bringing Dominik Kohr off in place of Kacper Potulski (37’). The defender had already received a caution and was in danger of picking up a second yellow card. While Hoffenheim enjoyed more possession, Mainz remained dangerous on the counter-attack. Tietz found Lee in behind, but the flag went up. Becker then crossed towards Nebel, who couldn’t get the right contact on it (43’). The two sides headed down the tunnel with the score level after an entertaining first half of football.

Tietz gets his second

Niki Veratschnig was brought on at half time for Silvan Widmer. Mainz started strongly and created a number of good chances early on. Nebel’s free kick found Veratschnig at the back post, who set up Posch, but the centre-back couldn’t poke it over the line from close range. A misplaced Hoffenheim pass saw Becker burst down the right flank, but his cross to the unmarked Tietz in the centre was cleared at the last moment by Ozan Kabak (52’). The match remained intense, though there were fewer clear chances than in the first half. Mainz were the more dangerous side, as Baumann was called into action to deny Tietz in the 67th minute.

There was a long spell where not a lot happened in either penalty area. Sota Kawasaki and Armindo Sieb were then brought on with 15 minutes of normal time remaining. Mainz’s efforts were rewarded again just a few minutes later. Mwene crossed towards Tietz again, whose initial header was saved by Baumann, but the Germany international was powerless to prevent Tietz from smashing in the rebound – 2-1 Mainz! (79’). The lead was deserved, as Hoffenheim offered little going forwards. Mainz were saved by the woodwork late on, as Wouter Burger’s effort smashed against the post (82’). In the closing minutes, Lennard Maloney replaced Paul Nebel to help secure the result. Mainz held on to their lead and could have extended it in stoppage time, but ultimately sealed a deserved away win.

The 05ers now have a midweek UEFA Conference League game in Mainz against Strasbourg to look forward to on Thursday (21:00 CEST), before they then welcome SC Freiburg to the MEWA ARENA on Sunday (19:30 CEST) for more Bundesliga action.