05ers let the game slip

1. FSV Mainz 05 lost their first match of the season in their clash with Werder Bremen on Sunday evening. The 05ers let the game slip by conceding an early penalty to the visitors and then losing their way in the second half despite a man advantage. Marvin Ducksch had given the northerners an early lead from the spot before Jae-sung Lee equalised after 27 minutes. Derrick Köhn scored the winner shortly after coming on as a substitute. Prior to that, Werder captain Marco Friedl had been shown a red card after a foul as the last defender.

Bo Henriksen made two changes from the draw in Stuttgart just over a fortnight ago, bringing Moritz Jenz and Maxim Leitsch into the starting line-up in place of Stefan Bell, who was on the bench, and Andreas Hanche-Olsen, who had returned injured from international duty with Norway. 

Werder gifted a penalty before Lee hits back

The opening phase of the match was somewhat reminiscent of February’s clash. Mainz came out the blocks fast with determination and made their first unsuccessful ventures forward. Lee, for example, failed to spot Phillipp Mwene free on the left early on (2’). Three minutes later, the visitors then threatened in the Mainz penalty area, but Bremen saw a triple chance blocked and then cleared. However, Justin Njinmah received the ball in the box and was brought down by Dominik Kohr when there was little danger. Referee Benjamin Brand was left with no choice but to point to the spot. Ducksch stroked the ball into right-hand corner from twelve yards, with Robin Zentner touching the ball but he was unable to prevent it from going in (8’). As bitter and unnecessary as this setback was from FSV’s point of view, they did not let the early deficit unsettle them and remained courageous. After twelve minutes, Nadiem Amiri shot from nearly 35 yards, but the ball skimmed the top of crossbar. The hosts had regained the momentum but ten minutes later, they still had no luck as the ball found Burkardt in the penalty area after a fine passing move, but he saw his shot blocked by Marco Friedl (22’). Lee was free on the left and would probably have had the better shooting position. However, Henriksen’s team were rewarded for their endeavours with the equaliser via their next attack. Mainz benefited from a faux pas by Michael Zetterer in the Bremen goal, with Lee on hand to volley the ball over the line from eleven yards to make it 1-1 (27’).

That was the last real moment of excitement in a first half of little quality. FSV were the more active team, but showed defensive vulnerability. Nevertheless, it was certainly a fair score line going into the break. 

Luckless FSV can’t make their man advantage count

The hosts came out for the second period unchanged, initially pinning Werder back in their own half, winning three corner kicks by the 50th minute. The first dangerous moment came in the 49th minute, when Hyunseok Hong flicked on the ball at the near post, but Bremen were able to clear after several attempts. The South Korean then came very close to handing his side the lead just 60 seconds later when a Burkardt cross reached him at the far post, but Zetterer skilfully closed down the angle to prevent the shot from going in (50’). FSV were now fully in control and a second goal nearly arrived again after just under an hour. A misplaced header from Anthony Jung ended up with Anthony Caci, who forced Zetterer into another brilliant save (58’). Two minutes later, the visitors were down to ten men. Lee had sent Burkardt down the line before he was stopped by Werder captain Marco Friedl around 30 yards from goal. Referee Brand thought about it briefly and then showed the defender a straight red card. Amiri’s resulting free-kick went close, but the superior numbers did not seem to do FSV any real good. The next few minutes belonged to Werder, and the substitution of Armindo Sieb for Hong did nothing to change that. Firstly, an effort from Ducksch missed the net by mere centimetres (65’), and four minutes later Mainz were caught out cold. Romano Schmid set up Köhn, who had just come on as a substitute, and he gave Zentner no chance from close range (69’) – the result of a poor reaction from Mainz after the dismissal.

It was a surprise for the 05ers, who needed time before their final attacking surge. Henriksen reacted with a triple substitution after 78 minutes, bringing on Silvan Widmer, Paul Nebel and Karim Onisiwo for Caci, Kaishu Sano and Mwene. Nebel should have had the next chance seven minutes before the end, but the home-grown player stumbled over after a fine solo run and ultimately failed to put the ball on target (83’). Mainz came back into the game and came close to equalising a little later through Sieb. However, the substitute’s header from Amiri's cross landed half a yard wide of the visitors’ goal. Despite all the attacking endeavours on the part of the hosts, there was no tangible end product, despite six minutes of stoppage time. Sieb had another chance from 20 metres after a switch of play, but Zetterer was on hand to parry again.

After three games, FSV still have two points to their name and face FC Augsburg next Friday evening (20:30 CEST).