05ers fall to defeat against clinical Leverkusen side

1. FSV Mainz 05 once again failed to pick up their first win of the season on matchday 6 in the Bundesliga. The 05ers fell to a 3-0 defeat against Bayer 04 Leverkusen at a sold-out MEWA ARENA despite playing fairly well for large parts of the game. Mainz were a worthy opponent throughout the entire game and created a number of good chances in both halves. However, the hosts failed to make the most of their strong display. The visitors scored three goals thanks to their individual quality in a ruthlessly clinical performance, and consequently took all three points back to Leverkusen.

Bo Svensson made three changes to his team after last weekend’s defeat in Augsburg. Sepp van den Berg returned to the back three alongside Stefan Bell and Edimilson Fernandes, whilst Brajan Gruda also came into the starting line-up, with Tom Krauß and Ludovic Ajorque dropping to the bench.

Unfortunate to be behind at the break

Less than five minutes had been played at the sold-out MEWA ARENA when Fernandes stepped up to take a free-kick on the left-hand side of the box. Onisiwo was fouled just outside Leverkusen’s box, with his Swiss teammate hitting the side-netting from the subsequent set piece. The 05ers looked promising in the opening stages, with Gruda in particular starting a number of dangerous moves in the first minutes of the game. However, Mainz were unable to create any clear-cut goalscoring chances from these attacks. At the other end of the pitch, Alejandro Grimaldo tried his luck from a free-kick from about 20 metres out (10’). FSV had Leverkusen’s strong attack including Victor Boniface, ex-05er Jonas Hofmann and Florian Wirtz under control up to this point, keeping things compact in the centre of the pitch and not allowing anything dangerous to develop. The hosts’ tidy first 17 minutes of the game was then ruined when the visitors took the lead. Jeremie Frimpong showed his pace against Fernandes on the right flank, before his ball into the box intended for Boniface took an unfortunate deflection off van den Berg and nestled in the bottom corner of Mainz’s goal (18’).

The 05ers almost found a deserved equaliser immediately, but Bell was surprised when Gruda’s free-kick reached him in the centre and he wasn’t able to direct the ball towards goal. Onisiwo also went close with a headed effort from a Gruda cross, but goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was able to deny him. Despite finding themselves behind after 25 minutes against the team placed second in the league, FSV did not let off – Leverkusen may have had more of the ball, but they hadn’t had the majority of the play. FSV continued to threaten in attack, with the lively Gruda looking to find the near post with a left-footed effort from the right-hand side, forcing Hradecky into another save (30’). Very little else happened in the last 15 minutes of the half due a lack of attacking ideas from both sides. It remained tight and the hosts headed into the break 1-0 down in a well-balanced game.

The visitors’ individual quality shows through 

Just like they did in the first half, the 05ers started positively after the change of ends. The hosts understandably remained unchanged after their solid performance in the first 45 minutes and had two good chances to equalise just after the break. First, Onisiwo’s header was smartly saved by Hradecky, before Bell narrowly missed the target with an effort at goal. The 05ers were right in the game, won plenty of individual duels and continued to threaten offensively, especially through their attacking duo of Gruda and Onisiwo. On the contrary, Leverkusen only had their first sight at Robin Zentner’s goal after 58 minutes as Grimaldo bent a free-kick from 18 yards out into the top left corner with his left foot. The 05ers’ hopes took a damaging blow due to the visitors’ individual quality just like they did in the first half, with Leverkusen making it 2-0 whilst Mainz were on top. 

The Werkself then showed their individual quality again as they scored their third goal with their third dangerous effort at goal. Leverkusen demonstrated their ruthless clinical nature as they took advantage of Dominik Kohr losing possession whilst Mainz were in transition. Substitute Amine Adli whipped in a cross from the left-hand side, with Hofmann leaving Zentner with no chance with his right-footed shot from ten yards out (65’). The visitors now found themselves comfortably ahead despite not creating many chances and started to knock the ball around, whilst they also had a big chance to further extend their lead through Boniface. However, Zentner reacted brilliantly to deny the visitors’ top scorer. Meanwhile, FSV weren’t rewarded for their efforts with a consolation goal as El Ghazi saw an effort go narrowly wide of the post and Krauß put a shot over the bar (81’). The hosts’ desire was still evident, despite the game’s disappointing progression. The score remained 3-0 until the final whistle as Mainz were consigned to their fifth defeat in six league games this season. 

1. FSV MAINZ 05 0-3 BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN

Mainz 05: Zentner - Van den Berg, Bell, Fernandes - Da Costa (69’ Barkok), Barreiro, Kohr (69’ Krauß), Lee (69’ El Ghazi) , Caci - Gruda (76’ Ajorque), Onisiwo (84’ Richter)

Leverkusen: Hradecky - Tapsoba, Tah, Koussounou - Grimaldo, Xhaka, Palacios, Frimpong (86‘ Stanisic) - Hofmann (86‘ Amiri), Wirtz (63‘ Adli), Boniface

Goals: 0-1 van den Berg (OG, 18’), 0-2 Grimaldo (59’), 0-3 Hofmann (65’)

Attendance: 33,305

Officials: Benjamin Brand (Assistants: Thomas Stein, Dr. Martin Thomsen / 4th official: Florian Exner / VAR: Robert Schröder, Christian Bandurski)