“The same story again”

FSV once again failed to reward themselves for another dominant performance filled with numerous chances in their last home game of the year on Saturday afternoon. 

The frustrating 1-0 loss against 1. FC Heidenheim, Mainz’s second consecutive home defeat, was the result of the defensively disciplined newly-promoted side managing to make the most of one of their two dangerous opportunities. Meanwhile, the ball just didn’t want to go in at the other end of the pitch. As has so often been the case in the last few weeks, FSV were lacking quality, luck and conviction in their shooting. A mixture of frustration, disbelief and perplexity was the prevailing feeling for all those associated with Mainz following the full-time whistle. 

The 05ers’ reaction following the game against Heidenheim

Sporting director Martin Schmidt: “A free-kick was enough for the opposition to win the game today. It’s hardly believable that we failed to score given how we dominated the game. We’re unable to deliver the efficiency that we’ve been talking about for weeks. That’s also a mental thing. We thought about things too much in the first half, whilst we didn’t show enough heart and courage. Jan gave a good speech during the break. You could see that we were on it in the second half. Eight or nine potential starters were missing today. When they return in January they will strengthen the squad in the areas that we need.”

Dominik Kohr: “We’re not conceding many chances. Heidenheim’s goal was also a little bit fortunate. We’re missing that bit of luck going forwards and can’t seem to get the ball over the line. We had a plan that we were meant to implement. However, we were half asleep in the first half. Going behind isn’t acceptable in such an important game. Nevertheless, we need to build on the morale that we showed in the second half. I don’t know how many chances we had. We need to give everything again on Tuesday in order to finish well before the winter break. We need to show a reaction following a game like that.”