FSV fall to defeat against Frankfurt

1. FSV Mainz 05 suffered an unfortunate 1-0 loss away at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday evening. It was an even game, in which Mario Götze scored the only goal in the second half in front of 58,000 spectators at the Deutsche Bank Park. FSV defended well for the most part, but Jan Siewert’s side lacked the creativity and penetration needed in attack to threaten the hosts more regularly. 

Head coach Jan Siewert made two changes to his starting eleven from the home game against VfL Wolfsburg. Marco Richter and Leandro Barreiro came into the side in place of Edimilson Fernandes, who was absent due to an ankle injury, and Merveille Papela. Richter took his place in the front three alongside Karim Onisiwo and Jonny Burkardt, whilst Barreiro formed a midfield partnership with Tom Krauß. Brajan Gruda was also unavailable due to a hip injury. 

Few chances, no goals

“We’re approaching the game with the aim of winning it,” Siewert emphasised ahead of the game. His team gave the impression that they had taken their head coach’s words onboard in the opening minutes and tried to apply pressure immediately. First, Burkardt didn’t find any takers with his ball into the box, whilst an effort from Dominik Kohr found its way to Richter shortly afterwards, but his shot from an offside position went over the bar. An even game devoid of clear-cut chances developed in the opening quarter of an hour because accuracy was lacking in the final third and both teams were focused on defensive stability. Frankfurt threatened Robin Zentner’s goal for the first time after 26 minutes, but Eric Dina Ebimbe’s header from Mario Götze’s cross went well wide of the 05ers’ goal – Barreiro’s headed effort straight afterwards also failed to hit the target.

Neither team managed to take full control of the game in the following stages as both sides struggled to dominate. It was more by chance that Ansgar Knauff found himself in a shooting position after 35 minutes as the Frankfurt midfielder was fortunate to keep hold of the ball in Mainz’s penalty area, but his shot went comfortably wide of the right post. It remained 0-0 until half-time as the 05ers also failed to make the most of their first clear-cut opportunity. Silvan Widmer was denied by a last-ditch block from Niels Nkounkou following his close range effort from Richter’s cross (42’). FSV put in a defensively disciplined performance and had some good attacking opportunities in the opening 45 minutes at the Deutsche Bank Park, but they lacked penetration in the final third. 

Götze with the only goal of the game

The 05ers began the second hand unchanged, whilst Fares Chaibi came on for Donny van de Beek at the interval for the hosts. FSV had the first good chance of the second half as the ball was played to Richter after an exchange between Krauß and Barreiro, but Onisiwo wasn’t able to get the crucial touch on his cross (52’). No one managed to get on the end of the 05ers’ next cross either as the Austrian attacker slipped. As was the case in the first half, the 05ers had control of the game and carried an attacking threat. The hosts went close for the first time in the second half after 64 minutes when Nkounkou was set up by Knauff on the left-hand of the penalty area, with the Frenchman’s effort going narrowly wide of the right post.

Whilst most of the action continued to take place in midfield and a goal didn’t really seem likely, it was Frankfurt who went ahead out of nowhere. Götze found himself unmarked with just Zentner to beat following a harmless effort from Willian Pacho. Whilst Zentner made a brilliant save from Götze’s first attempt, he was powerless to prevent the midfielder from slotting in the rebound.  The former international, who was only just onside, was able to tap the ball home with his head to give the hosts the lead (73’). Ajorque, Papela and Leitsch came on for FSV in the closing stages of the game, whilst Jan Siewert’s team had a good opportunity to find an immediate equaliser from a corner, but van den Berg’s header went just over the bar. Eintracht focused on protecting their lead, whilst the 05ers struggled to get into the final third and were unable to carve out any good chances. There was little action to come during five minutes of additional time, meaning that the visitors fell to a narrow defeat.

A busy schedule ahead

The games keep coming for FSV. Jan Siewert’s side are set to welcome Werder Bremen to the MEWA ARENA for the club’s carnival match day on Saturday 3rd February (15:30 CET), before Union Berlin are the visitors for the rearranged game the following Wednesday (18:30 CET).

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT 1-0 1. FSV MAINZ 05

Frankfurt: Trapp - Tuta, Koch, Pacho - Dina Ebimbe (77’ Shkiri), Larsson, Götze (81’ Rode), Nkounkou (90+1’ Max) - Knauff (90+1’ Buta), van de Beek (46’ Chaibi), Kalajdzic

Mainz 05: Zentner - Kohr (81’ Papela), van den Berg, Caci (81’ Leitsch) - Widmer (87’ da Costa), Krauß, Barreiro, Mwene - Richter (76’ Ajorque), Onisiwo, Burkardt

Goals: 1-0 Götze (73’)

Attendance: 58,000 (sold-out)

Officials: Felix Zwayer (Assistants: Thomas Gorniak, Marcel Pelgrim)