Rascal Ingvartsen stabs
Mainz 05 wrestles Bayer Leverkusen down
02/18/2022, 10:28 p.m
Best offense meets best defence: When Mainz 05 meets Bayer Leverkusen, this constellation results in a top-class Bundesliga game. In the end, the Rheinhessen prove their home strength.
1. FSV Mainz 05 has stopped Bayer Leverkusen’s impressive winning streak. At the start of the 23rd match day of the Bundesliga, the Rheinhessen inflicted the Werkself’s first defeat of the year on Friday evening with a 3-2 (0-1) defeat and are now even involved in the fight for international starting places. In front of 10,000 spectators, top scorer Patrick Schick (35th minute) and Joker Lucas Alario (74th) gave the guests the lead twice, but Aaron (57th), Jean-Paul Boetius (84th) and Marcus Ingvartsen (88th) turned the game around in favor of the 05ers, who equaled their club record from 2009 under Thomas Tuchel with their fifth home win in a row.
First Boetius (center) equalizes, Ingvartsen (right) follows suit a little later.
(Photo: imago images/Thomas Frey)
The visitors had the first chance. Kerem Demirbay tested Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner in the 6th minute. However, the Rheinhessen then made the game and the snappier impression. Bayer struggled to find space for the combination game that was so successful this season. The hosts are different. Anton Stach (13th) and Silvan Widmer (16th) failed with shots by a good Lukas Hradecky, who made a strong save. Mainz went into the game without any personnel changes. Coach Bo Svensson trusted the same starting XI as in the previous week in the 1-1 draw in Freiburg. Bayer coach Gerardo Seoane made a change: defender Jonathan Tah returned after surviving an infection and replaced the injured Mitchel Bakker.
The committed team from Mainz deserved the lead in the first half, but even the greatest opportunity after half an hour didn’t lead to success. Jonathan Burkhard put the ball on his strike partner Karim Onisiwo in front of Hradecky, but the Austrian was blocked decisively. Leverkusen’s top scorer Patrik Schick did better: The Czech tried a shot from about 20 meters and was lucky that FSV captain Moussa Niakhaté deflected the ball into goalkeeper Zentner. It was the first goal Mainz conceded at home since November 21 in the 1-1 draw against 1. FC Köln.
After that, the 05er had won four home games in a row to zero. Schick had to be replaced injured shortly after the restart. He was replaced by Lucas Alario (48′), who a short time later watched Mainz take control of the game again: Aarón Martín equalized with a remarkable free-kick goal. The supposed opening goal by Onisiwo was taken back a little later by referee Benjamin Cortus (63.) – the goal on the other side by Alario after a nice Bayer combination counted.
But Mainz stayed on and substitute Jean-Paul Boëtius flicked the ball from the edge of the box into the far corner to equalize 2-2. The Svensson team showed character and with a lot of will the other joker Marcus Ingvartsen poked the ball through the Bayer defense to lead 3:2. “It wasn’t undeserved that Mainz won. We weren’t there in crucial situations and an aggressive team like Mainz scored the goals,” said Leverkusen keeper Hradecky after the game.