Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo and Edmond Tapsoba (from left) try to assert themselves against Mainz’s Onisiwo.
What: afp
Thanks to a serious mistake by Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen took another step towards their first championship and set a record. In the hard-fought 2-1 (1-1) on Friday evening against relegation candidates FSV Mainz 05, they remained at the top of the table -Bundesliga undefeated for the 33rd time in a row – no Bundesliga team had ever achieved that before.
Mainz keeper Zentner puts the ball into the net himself
But the victory against Rheinhessen came about in a strange way. Mainz keeper Zentner put a harmless long shot from Robert Andrich (68th minute) into the net. Zentner had already looked unhappy when Granit Xhaka took the early lead at Bayer (3rd). The courageous Mainz team of new coach Bo Henriksen were able to quickly compensate for this mishap through Dominik Kohr (8th).
In the 80th minute, Mainz substitute Jessic Ngankam was also shown a red card for serious foul play. Thanks to the renewed success, Leverkusen’s lead over second-placed Bayern Munich is a whopping eleven points, at least until Saturday. Then Bayern have to play against RB Leipzig. The record champions also broke the previous record of 32 competitive games without defeat between December 2019 and September 2020.
1. FC Heidenheim has not lost eight times before, but then comes Bayer Leverkusen. However, the 2-1 win against the promoted team is not easy for the league leaders.02/19/2024 | 8:48 minutes
But the three points on Friday were hard work for Leverkusen. The game started wildly. The frontrunners took the lead in the third minute because midfield strategist Xhaka simply shot straight at the goal from a good 20 meters, duping Zentner. However, this did not bring calm to the Bayer game. Mainz responded promptly with a Kohr header from a free kick.
Bayer coach Alonso relies on Hofmann
Alonso had expected exactly that. “I know the coach,” the Basque said before the game on DAZN about the new Mainz coach Henriksen, who started with a win against Augsburg. “They will press, be brave, play intensely.” That’s exactly how it happened. The Rheinhessen, who were in dire relegation troubles, boldly held on and played along offensively. Bayer was late to adapt to this and had a long period of pressure before the break, which remained unused despite some of the best opportunities.
In the absence of striker Victor Boniface, who is still injured, Alonso did without striker alternative Patrik Schick and instead tried to play with former Gladbach player Jonas Hofmann. But the national player failed a few times alone in front of Zentner or with blocked attempts. Alonso was visibly upset that Bayer was having such a hard time dealing with the relegation candidate. The Spaniard kept swearing and gesticulating on the sidelines.
Successful debut for Bo Henriksen as coach of FSV Mainz 05: The penultimate team beat FC Augsburg 1-0 and ended their negative series of eleven games without a win.02/19/2024 | 7:21 minutes
Mainz remains in the relegation zone
His displeasure was often directed at referee Timo Gerach, who actually didn’t seem very confident. This earned Alonso a yellow card, but did not help his team on the pitch. Mainz, which had repeatedly scored points against Leverkusen in recent years, remained courageous and increasingly presented Bayer with tasks.
After almost an hour, Alonso reacted and brought Schick on for the hapless Hofmann. However, the victory was brought by the Mainz goalkeeper’s bad mistake, which prevented Rheinhessen from scoring another point in Leverkusen. This means that the Rheinhessen remain in a direct relegation zone even after the 23rd matchday. Mainz remains the only Bundesliga team without an away win this season.
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Source: dpa