A perfect end to the year: “We gave everything”

Niko Bungert (sporting director): “Today, I witnessed a team that gave everything despite being down to ten. They showed great mentality, defending so resolutely for 90 minutes, being outnumbered for around 75 of those. Despite that, we then also had four players in the opposition penalty area for the third goal, which is what makes us special. We show great passion and fight, covering great distance and sticking together like no other team does at the moment. We got some luck with the bizarre opening goal that got us into the game. After the red card, we showed great determination to get the three points. Our performance this season to date has been really good. The table shows how well we’ve performed after 15 matchdays. We don’t have to apologise for being up there, because it’s well deserved. It’s almost a shame that we have a break now.”

Christian Heidel (board member for sport): “I’ve experienced a lot, but this year was something special. We haven’t had many better years in terms of points, so this is quite extraordinary for Mainz 05. You need to have good momentum to win a game like today’s. The club motto of ‘never give up’ that we created last year is firmly instilled in the players’ minds. I always sense that. Of course you can say that we had some luck today, but it wasn’t undeserved. We defended well with ten men against a top team and threw ourselves into challenges and blocks. The incentive to do everything we can to be successful runs throughout the club right now and that’s how you win a game like this. We got the points we dropped in Wolfsburg back today.”

Robin Zentner: “It was hard work, but it was worth it in the end. We can take the three points home knowing we look really good in the table, which feels great. The first goal was lucky and then the sending off unfortunate and tough to take. Frankfurt had played well before that and were the better side. We then capitalised on our chances, maybe you could say half-chances. Our shots simply went in and theirs did not. We defended well but we can definitely play better than we did in second half. We’re pleased with how things have gone so far and it’ll be even better when the injured lads come back. How much ground Paul, Lee, Kaishu and our full-backs cover is incredible. We’re delighted with the performance and the team spirit but will remain humble.”

Paul Nebel: “It's a great feeling scoring a brace in the derby and it's even better that we were able to win the match. Leading 3-0 in Frankfurt while one man down is a huge achievement. We worked hard for it throughout the game, although, of course, we also had to suffer a lot since Eintracht had chances. We threw ourselves into everything but you can’t defend it all when a player short. We feel great right now because we really wanted to win the game and we did just that.”