Friday, November 26th, 2021
Nice goals from Ito and Sosa
VfB succeeds in liberating Mainz
VfB Stuttgart collects three important points in the fight for relegation. Ito and Sosa score their first Bundesliga goals for VfB against Mainz. In the final phase, however, the Swabians have to tremble again.
Thanks to goals worth seeing, VfB Stuttgart has ended its negative streak in the Bundesliga and scored three important points in the fight to stay relegated. The Swabians won 2: 1 (1: 1) against 1. FSV Mainz 05 at the start of the 13th matchday in the evening. Hiroki Ito (21st minute) and Borna Sosa (51st) scored their first Bundesliga goals for the VfB, who had lost all of the previous four competitive games and now at least temporarily moved from 16th to 13th place in the table.
Alexander Hack (39th) scored for the eighth-placed Mainz team, who had previously remained unbeaten in the league for four games in a row. The VfB fans among the 25,000 spectators were cheering loudly five minutes before the end: winger Silas Katompa Mvumpa made his long-awaited comeback after an eight-month injury break.
Despite the many sporting and personal setbacks that he recently had to deal with, VfB started out quite ambitious. Omar Marmoush, who was able to play again for the first time since mid-October after recovering from syndesmotic problems, immediately brought a breath of fresh air to the damaged Swabian attack. FSV keeper Robin Zentner was just able to parry his shot in the third minute.
Ito hits with a lot of emotion
The guests appeared as the “unpleasant team” expected by Stuttgart coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and initially held back offensively. Two goals by Karim Onisiwo remained her only dangerous scenes for a long time: the Austrian’s first low shot defused VfB goalkeeper Florian Müller (12th), the second flew past after a good turn by the striker on the left (17th).
The tour of the hosts by Ito was then worth seeing. With a lot of feeling, the Japanese slid the ball from the left into the far corner. Hundreds of weight were still there with his fingertips, but could no longer prevent the hit. It was, and that is a bit indicative of their offensive problems in the season so far, the seventh Stuttgart goal by a defender.
Four minutes later, VfB almost got the opportunity to add a penalty kick. According to the video images, referee Matthias Jöllenbeck withdrew the penalty that was initially imposed. Mainz goalkeeper Zentner had cleared opponent Konstantinos Mavropanos in a fist defense, but hit the ball first.
Fans cheer for the comeback
So it turned out a bit as it had to come from the hosts’ point of view: After a corner Hack hit a header to equalize for Mainz. Leandro Barreiro (42nd), who replaced the injured Dominik Kohr in midfield of the 05er, and Onisiwo (43rd) then moved. In the second half, too, VfB got off to a better start, scored well again – and again through a defender. After a pass from Orel Mangala, who had also prepared the 1-0, Sosa hammered the ball from an acute angle from the left under the bar.
Mainz tried to find a quick answer, but Jean-Paul Boetius shot from 18 meters just over the goal (60th). As a result, the Stuttgart team kept the guests away from their own goal, mostly skillfully. They only had to shake a little again in the final phase, but Müller held an attempt by Jae-Sung Lee without any effort (78th). In the 85th minute, VfB winger Silas Katompa Mvumpa made his comeback – cheered euphorically by his own fans in the stadium.