FSV Mainz 05 missed the liberation they longed for in a duel with feared opponents Werder Bremen. Coach Bo Henriksen’s team drew 1-1 (1-0) at home with Werder and are stuck in the bottom of the table after their fifth game in a row without a win in the upper house.
Bremen, on the other hand, has now been unbeaten for four games. However, the draw in Mainz ended a four-game winning streak against FSV.
Werder with a late equalizer
Mainz captain Silvan Widmer gave the home team a deserved lead in the 36th minute. In the final phase, Jens Stage saved Bremen a point with a remarkable volley (86th).
“We are totally ready for Werder. It’s time for us to finally win a game and have a sense of achievement,” Henriksen said before the Werder game. It looked like a victory for a long time, but not at the final whistle.
Grüll misses Werder’s only chance in the first half
As in previous games, Mainz were committed right from the start, but as recently, they lacked accuracy in passing and penetration in the early stages against a waiting Bremen team.
The guests, on the other hand, waited for a counterattack – and almost succeeded. After a great pass from Romano Schmid, Marco Grüll missed a great opportunity when he shot from a promising position into the arms of Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner (13th).
Mainz first had bad luck with the crossbar, then took the lead
Except for this attempt by Grüll, Bremen remained harmless in the first half – in contrast to Mainz, who had their best chance of the encounter so far in the 24th minute. After a counterattack, a shot from Phillipp Mwene landed on the top edge of the crossbar – bad luck for the FSV.
But in the first half, the Mainz team rewarded themselves for a decent performance in front of 33,305 spectators. Werder keeper Mio Backhaus was initially able to fend off a shot from Widmer. But Benedict Hollerbach followed up decisively and set up Widmer again with a heel, who this time gave Backhaus no chance with a powerful shot.
Pieper prevents 2-0
After the break the home team pushed for a 2-0 lead. With a header from Lennard Maloney after a corner, Werder defender Amos Pieper saved on the line for the already beaten Backhaus.
And Werder? The Bremen team remained harmless for the time being. Representing this was striker Victor Boniface, who was allowed to play from the start, as was the case in the 1-0 win against Union Berlin, but did not have a single noteworthy action until he was substituted in the 64th minute.
Mainz’s passivity takes its revenge
Shortly afterwards, substitute Justin Njinmah had a great chance to equalize, but the Joker pushed the ball past the goal in front of Zentner (65th).
Afterwards, the 05ers only managed the lead and thus became more passive. This took revenge in the final phase when Stage equalized late on.