On the 30th match day of the Bundesliga, VfL Wolfsburg celebrated a clear 3-0 (3-0) victory against 1. FSV Mainz 05 in a duel between two European Cup candidates.
Jonas Wind (5′, 28′) and Sebastiaan Bornauw (13′) brought Mainz, who had been successful against Bayern Munich last week and unbeaten in ten league games last week, back down to earth. “We weren’t enough, especially in the first half hour,” admitted Mainz defender Stefan Bell on the Sportschau microphone: “Tackling behavior, defending around our own penalty area – we just didn’t do enough.”
Wolfsburg, who recently celebrated a 5-1 thrashing of VfL Bochum, moved past Mainz in seventh place in the table. 46 points mean just two points behind Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who currently qualify for the Conference League. Mainz is eighth with 45 points. “The first half was very, very good. The goals we scored, the chances we created. That’s how we imagine it,” said Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac in the Sportschau interview.
Jonas Wind with a double pack
The guests started energetically in the VfL Arena, but Wolfsburg struck straight away with the first attack. At the end of a fast ball relay, Mattias Svanberg freed Wind in the six-yard box, chipping the ball past FSV keeper Robin Zentner to make it 1-0.
Mainz continued to play, but the “wolves” remained mercilessly effective. Bornauw with a header after a corner kick and wind following up on a Baku shot screwed the result up to 3:0. The guests became more compelling shortly before the break, but neither Karim Onisiwo (37th) nor Dominik Kohr (41st) put the ball in the goal.
Wolfsburg mercilessly effective
At the break Wolfsburg, on the other hand, had all three of his shots on goal in the net and was clearly leading. VfL goal scorer Bornauw was only able to conclude in the Sportschau interview: “The first half was just fun.”
Mainz played more stable in the second half, but the Rheinhessen remained too harmless towards the goal. Kohr had the best opportunity with a header into the side netting (62′). Wolfsburg remained active and vigilant and ultimately wrapped up the clear home win with ease. “We weren’t on target today,” said 05 coach Bo Svensson to Sportschau, “and a good team like Wolfsburg takes advantage of that.”
Mainz opens against Schalke 04
At the start of the 31st matchday, 1. FSV Mainz 05 welcomes FC Schalke 04 (Friday, May 5th, 2023 at 8:30 p.m.). Two days later, Wolfsburg is a guest at Borussia Dortmund (5.30 p.m.).