The Mainz fans had to suffer a dismal Saturday afternoon at the MEWA ARENA, as they saw their side fall to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Heidenheim – a result that was not undeserved. From the off, FSV struggled to get a grip in the game. Both the goal for 1-0 through Marvin Pieringer and the sending-off for Andreas Hanche-Olsen came before the break. Then, at the end of the second period, the visitors sealed the win when Jan Schöppner scored a header from a corner.
Bo Henriksen was forced into two changes from the side he fielded at the start of the victory in Augsburg. Dominik Kohr stepped into midfield to fill in for the suspended Nadiem Amiri, with club captain Silvan Widmer coming into the side on the right flank. Anthony Caci switched to the left of the three centre-halves and Jae-sung Lee came back into the team after a knock, replacing Armindo Sieb who had only been able to train sporadically this week.
A first half to forget
Anyone expecting a high-quality contest packed with goal-mouth action would have been quickly disappointed. Rather, the two teams completely cancelled each other out in the opening stages, mainly engaging in physical battles in the middle of the park. Therefore, it was of little surprise that the first two opportunities, both for Heidenheim, arrived via set pieces. Firstly, Robin Zentner had to be alert to deny Pieringer’s header following a free-kick delivery from Niklas Dorsch, parrying it out for a corner (7’). It was then Jan Schöppner who got on the end of the successive set play, testing the FSV goalkeeper once more, but found him ready to save again (8’). That should have formed a double wake-up call for the Mainzer, who simply could not get into the game, so much so that the lead for the visitors would have come as a surprise to few shortly after. Jonas Föhrenbach sent a cross into the box from the left-hand side, which Pieringer ran onto unchallenged and was able to make it 1-0 to the away team from six yards out (15’). Jae-sung Lee was to have the first half-chance for Mainz, but he failed to put the ball on target following Widmer’s cross (25’). Andreas Hanche-Olsen, who had already been booked, then clashed with Schöppner shortly afterwards and was shown a second yellow card after just 29 minutes. Henriksen reacted to the dismissal by bringing on Stefan Bell for Hyuneok Hong, initially opting to manage the game with caution and not take risks too early on. FSV’s best opportunity of a first half in which they offered little arrived through Anthony Caci’s corner kick, which Mikkel Kaufmann inadvertently steered towards his own goal from close range, but Kevin Müller in the Heidenheim goal was on hand to save with his foot (38’). The MEWA ARENA did not see much more in the way of action until the break, with Heidenheim reluctant to apply too much forward pressure and FSV unable to come up with anything themselves.
Still nothing to offer after the break
The 05ers used the break to collect themselves and got another chance just after half-time, with Caci testing Müller from a direct free-kick. The keeper only parried, but Burkardt could do nothing with the rebound (49’). That remained just one of the sparing moments of attacking pressure from the hosts. The visitors had now turned their attention to conserving the lead, investing little going forward and hence Mainz found it tricky to create much against a well-organised Heidenheim defence. With an hour gone, Henriksen brought Sieb on for Caci, which was a clear signal that the team needed to up the tempo in attack (61’). In the minutes that followed, however, it was FCH who had the scoring chances and could have sealed the game on multiple occasions. Firstly, Maximilan Breunig, who had also just come on, narrowly missed the target from 20 yards (65’), before Föhrenbach latched onto the end of a pass from Breunig but was then denied by a reflex save from Zentner just two minutes later (67’). Eventually, Paul Wanner’s follow-up shot was blocked centrally by Bell.
FSV began the final 15 minutes with a triple-substitution, acting as a last throw of the dice for the Mainzer. Aymen Barrok, Paul Nebel and Nelson Weiper came on for Widmer, Kohr and Lee with the intention of rescuing at least a point for the hosts. On 80 minutes, the mathematical balance of play was restored when Dorsch saw red for a challenge on Kaishu Sano on the halfway line. That did nothing, however, to alter the lacklustre showing from the home side, who in actuality conceded goal number two shortly afterwards. Adrian Beck delivered a corner kick into the area in front of goal and Jan Schöppner obliged with a header which gave Zentner zero chance from eight yards out (86’). With that strike, the game was effectively over.
Next Saturday evening sees Mainz travel to face newly-promoted St. Pauli, who have managed the same number of points after five matches (kick-off 18:30 CEST). After the international break, Leipzig will visit the MEWA ARENA next on 19th October.