FSV Mainz 05 missed their first away win in more than a year. With the 1:1 (1:1) at SC Freiburg on Sunday evening, Bo Henriksen’s team gave up the relegation place to VfL Bochum and is in a non-relegation zone for the first time since the second matchday. “It’s a nice feeling,” said striker Jonathan Burkardt, “but I would rather be standing there after matchday 34.”
Henriksen had called up the same eleven as against TSG Hoffenheim – and they had a similar experience to the week before: they set the tone, but fell behind. And that already in the sixth minute, when Freiburg countered, Ritsu Doan crossed in front of the six-yard box and Michael Gregoritsch headed through the raised arms of Robin Zentner, who was jumping towards him.
Regardless of the SC Korean’s quality of crosses, the Mainz defense didn’t look good: central defender Dominik Kohr let Gregoritsch escape behind him, full-back Anthony Caci didn’t move in, and goalkeeper Zentner seemed to have the ball in sight, but not the striker.
When the keeper was called upon for the second time, he responded outstandingly. With his left foot he thwarted a great chance for Gregoritsch, who had been cleared by Lukas Höler (29′). Between these two scenes and in the last quarter of an hour of the first half, however, the action largely took place at the other end of the field. It took the 05ers a few minutes to get back into the mode with which they had recently been so enthusiastic.
This resulted in several scenes in the penalty area and two corners, a shot from Kohr from a distance that went onto the roof of the goal, a shot from 20 meters by Leandro Barreiro that Noah Atubolu punched aside. In the middle of the first half, Henriksen’s men established themselves in the opponent’s half for several minutes; Freiburg barely got over the halfway line. The following Jonathan Burkardt almost benefited from a mistake by SC central defender Yannik Keitel – now Atubolu prevented a goal with his left foot (33′).
With his next shot, the Rheinhessen center forward managed to equalize: Amiri shifted the game to the right side, Caci took his time with the further processing. Meanwhile, Burkardt ran across the penalty area, came centrally to Caci’s cross and, despite being under pressure, managed to get the ball into the left corner of the SC goal with his long right leg against his own direction of travel (40th).
Henriksen had to change at halftime. For Barreiro he brought in Tom Krauß, who, like Jae-sung Lee before him, picked up a fifth yellow card and will have to sit out next Sunday against 1. FC Köln.
After the break, the game became more and more of a battle of attrition. The Mainz team were no longer able to penetrate their attacks. The Breisgauers, who were more stable, made the rooms too narrow and the 05ers had too few ideas. The SC came closer to a second goal in two scenes: Gregoritsch narrowly missed the goal with an angled shot, Lukas Kübler put a header a little too high.
“In the end the 1:1 is okay,” said SC goalscorer Gregoritsch. “I should have made it 2-0, but the goalkeeper did an outstanding job. You have to be able to praise sometimes.” Jonathan Burkardt could also live with results. “We have to be happy with that,” he said, “I think it’s a fair draw.”