Hard-fought win and a terrific atmosphere

Wehen Wiesbaden - Mainz 05 1-3

Jonny Burkardt: “It was great to score the goal in front of the away end and see the wall of fans in white. But we also had to win today. We started well but then it became a very even game after the first goal went in, and we simply just showed a bit more quality in extra time. We had problems finding the right combinations for a long time before that, and I also wasn’t able to hit the heights I usually expect of myself. We could have been a lot better with our decision making in the final third. Kaishu Sano put in a top performance today, always running more and running faster. It is great to see how fit he is already. He understands the game and I’m sure we will soon overcome the language barrier.”

Dominik Kohr: “It was a spontaneous decision to run forward for my goal. We had players back to cover and I then got into the position to take the goalkeeper by surprise a bit with a low shot into the far corner. We saw tonight how quickly you can begin to struggle when you concede a goal early on. We got better and better after the break and the changes helped to freshen things up too. I think Wehen were extremely tired at the end and I felt that we could have played even longer. It was a fully-deserved, but hard-fought victory.”

Niko Bungert: “It was as tough as it always is against a team that has already started their competitive season. We started well though, put together some nice attacks and looked to play good football. Wiesbaden looked to sit back and threaten from counter-attacks and then took the lead. We looked to keep things simple after the break, got the ball forward quicker and made more runs in behind. It was a real battle, but a deserved victory. We obviously didn’t want it to be so close though. We’ve got quality in our squad, however some things could definitely happen in the final two weeks of the window.”