FSV defeat Leipzig and earn first win of the season

The 05ers celebrated a fully deserved first win of the season on Saturday afternoon with over 30,000 fans in the MEWA ARENA following their clash against RB Leipzig after a defensively solid first-half performance and a classy display in the second half. Jan Siewert’s team were clearly the better side in the final stages of the game, with Jae-sung Lee opening the scoring late on after great work in the build-up by Karim Onisiwo, before Leandro Barreiro made sure of the win three minutes later. The Champions League participants were unable to respond to Mainz’s quick-fire double, meaning that Robin Zentner was also able to claim his first clean sheet of the season in goal for Mainz.

Jan Siewert made three changes from the DFB-Pokal defeat away at Hertha BSC: Sepp van den Berg, Dominik Kohr and Marco Richter came into the side in place of Tom Krauß, Aymen Barkok as well as the injured Brajan Gruda. Mainz lined up with their regular 3-4-2-1 formation, with Onisiwo playing as the sole striker. 

FSV well organised, but unthreatening going forwards

The visitors had more of the ball in the early stages as was expected, whilst there was a heated atmosphere inside the MEWA ARENA. However, the 05ers threw themselves into every individual duel and were well deserving of the crowd’s applause on multiple occasions in the first few minutes. The hosts then suffered a setback after about 5 minutes as Josuha was slightly late when challenging Lois Openda by the touchline, picking up an injury in the process whilst making his tackle. The summer signing was unable continued after a short period of treatment, meaning that Siewert had to make an early change as he brought on Danny da Costa (16’). The substitute took his place on the right flank as Edimilson Fernandes moved to right centre-back, whilst Sepp van den Berg was moved to central centre-back.

Leipzig started to apply more pressure going forwards in the following stages, causing the FSV defence more and more problems, however these attacks didn’t initially threaten Zentner’s goal. After 20 minutes, Christoph Baumgartner somewhat fortunately found himself with just FSV’s keeper to beat, but Maxim Leitsch managed to clear the ball without too much trouble. Xavi found himself in a shooting position on the right-hand side eight minutes later after a counterattack from Leipzig, but he failed to hit the target with his effort (28’). FSV continued to battle hard, but had almost nothing to offer in attack in the first 30 minutes. When they occasionally had the chance to launch quick counterattacks, either the courage to take a risk or a passing option was lacking. When Mainz had such a promising situation in the 38th minute and found themselves with plenty of room to attack into, Anthony Caci took slightly too long to make a decision, meaning that Leipzig’s players were able to get back to their penalty area in time to prevent an accurate pass to Onisiwo. The 05ers threatened the Leipzig goal for the first time a minute before the break as Richter took aim from 20 yards after combining with Dominik Kohr, but his effort went approximately a metre over the goal (44’). Mainz’s number ten had another effort from distance in the second minute of additional time, but his left-footed shot went wide. The game had picked up pace once again in the minutes leading up to half time as FSV went into the break somewhat fortunate, but by no means undeserving of parity. 

A lively encounter after the break, Lee & Barreiro score

Neither side made a change during the interval, whilst the game didn’t take long to pick up pace at the start of the second half. Lee fired an effort straight at Janis Blaswich (47’), before Xavi saw a shot go just wide a minute later (48’). Only a minute after that, Leipzig were able to clear a good ball into the box from Richter in the six-yard area at the back post following a cross from da Costa (49’). The 05ers now carried more of a threat going forwards, but the visitors went close to taking the lead after just before the hour as Xavi once again took aim at goal from distance after a Leipzig corner was cleared. However, Zentner was able to turn the ball behind for another corner with a brilliant save (58’). The game was now hotly-contested and full of tension. Mainz then launched a rapid counterattack in the 66th minute after the referee Bastian Dankert decided to award a goal-kick instead of a corner following a great last-ditch challenge from Edimilson Fernandes. FSV moved forwards at pace as Onisiwo carried the ball down the right and squared it for Kohr, but his first-time effort went inches wide of the post. The majority of the 30,000 fans in attendance had been expecting the net to bulge (66’). Siewert reacted immediately after that, bringing Aymen Barkok and Tom Krauß on for Kohr and Richter. The fans were now fully invested in the encounter and willed their team forwards relentlessly – that was to pay off. FSV were visibly lifted by the increase in performance levels in the second half and found it increasingly easier to combine with one another in midfield. Then, in the 74th minute, Caci received the ball on the left after interplay between Barkok, Lee and Onisiwo, and he played the ball across the face of goal, but Lee was just unable to reach his cross. However, FSV deservedly went ahead two minutes later: Onisiwo, who seemed to be reinvigorated after the restart, got the better of Lukas Klostermann down the right-hand side and put in a pinpoint cross, with Lee able to cap off an outstanding attack and put his side 1-0 up with a neat header.

FSV kept the pressure on after taking the lead and doubled their tally three minutes later. After a few tense minutes, Barreiro’s goal was eventually awarded following a lengthy VAR check. There was chaos in the Leipzig box before the ball fell to Onisiwo, whose cross found Barreiro. The Luxembourg international nodded home from close range to double Mainz’s lead in the 79th minute. The hosts were calm and collected following the second goal, fought all the way up until the final whistle, and didn’t leave much to chance. They couldn’t risk missing out on that important first win of the season. You could see the relief on every Mainz fans’ face after the final whistle – the home end could celebrate watching their team win for the first time in more than six months.

Two days after Bo Svensson’s departure, Mainz are off the bottom of the table and have taken their points tally for the season to six. The next challenge for the 05ers is a trip to SV Darmstadt on Saturday (11.11). The away end is sold out.

MAINZ 05 2-0 LEIPZIG 

FSV: Zentner - Edimilson, van den Berg, Guilavogui (16’ da Costa), Leitsch, Caci - Kohr (67’ Krauß), Barreiro, Lee (90+2’ Papela), Richter (67’ Barkok) - Onisiwo (90+2’ Ajorque)
Leipzig: Blaswich - Henrichs, Simakan, Klostermann, Lukeba, Raum - Schlager, Kampl (82’ Haidara), Xavi, Baumgartner (67’ Werner) - Openda (67’ Sesko)

Goals: 1-0 Lee (76’), 2-0 Barreiro (79’)

Attendance: 30,100
Referee: Bastian Dankert