“Important for our morale”

Sepp van den Berg’s first goal for 1. FSV Mainz 05 came at a perfect time, drawing his team level just before the break against the odds at Signal Iduna Park. Hosts Borussia Dortmund had been fairly dominant in the first half, but failed to increase their lead. The 05ers took advantage of that and were buoyed by their goal, holding the home team to a draw with a strong second-half performance.

The 05ers could even have stolen all three points, but “were happy with a draw overall,” said Stefan Bell, who returned to the starting XI. “We collected a point away to one of the best teams, have now conceded just four goals in our last seven games and have competed in each match. We’re not far away from where we need to be,” added the centre-back. “Now we need to clear our heads before we turn our focus to the New Year, where we need to put things right,” explained captain Silvan Widmer.

Reaction from Dortmund

Silvan Widmer: “We didn’t start well and gave them too much space. They had lots of chances early on. Our positioning got better from around the 25th minute and our goal just before half time was really important. It allowed us to come out with some confidence for the second half. There was a period in which we caused Dortmund real problems – we had them where we wanted them, but unfortunately we couldn’t score again. They also had two or three chances, so I’d say 1-1 was a fair scoreline. Looking at the table though, we’re not going into the winter break on a high. However, this point was important for our morale. The fans made it clear that they still believe in us, which is extremely important. Now we need to clear our heads before we turn our focus to the New Year, where we need to put things right.”

Stefan Bell: “We started well in the first five minutes and really got stuck in. We were too passive after that and Dortmund had lots of good chances, efforts from distance and promising moments in transition. Batzi kept us in the game then. We switched things up and tried to press them higher up the pitch, which we did well. We were better in the remainder of the first half and had chances to be dangerous once we won the ball back. We should have been better from those counter-attacks, but still went in level, which we deserved to in my opinion. We were the better team in the second half until around the 80th minute. We had more chances, more attacks, but again should have done more with them. We didn’t create enough clear-cut chances from moves where we had an overload during the phases we were on top. Dortmund had a period of pressure again at the end. A draw is okay overall. We collected a point away to one of the best teams, have now conceded just four goals in our last seven games and have competed in each match. We’re not far away from where we need to be. We need to make more of our attacks and chances, whilst remaining solid at the same time. That’s our task for the second half of the season.”

Sporting director Martin Schmidt: “It was a game of two halves. We were dominated after a decent start in the first half and didn’t win enough tackles. We were fortunate to only be 1-0 down after the first half an hour. We then got one chance just before the break and scored our equaliser. That definitely unsettled Dortmund and gave us belief that we could get something from the game. The second half went differently, it was good from our perspective. We pressed them higher up the pitch and won the ball back more often. That led to three or four good chances and respect from the opposition. We were able to keep them away from our goal and kept things tight. It got a bit chaotic towards the end of the game and both teams could have scored at that point. We deserved a draw when you look at both halves. Our counter-attacks weren’t good enough – we were too impatient and sloppy. We could have won with a bit of luck, though we also were fortunate when they hit the bar. A win would obviously have done us the world of good. The relegation battle has fully begun for us now. This final point before the winter break will hopefully give everyone some belief and breathe new life into everyone. We’ll head home now and then sit down together in the next few days to speak and analyse everything. We’ll then announce what will happen next and what we decide to do about our head coach.