1. FSV Mainz 05 – Greuther Fürth 3-0: Next FSV home win thanks to a double strike

The false start of SpVgg Greuther Fürth in their second Bundesliga adventure is taking on increasingly clear traits, even with their favorite opponent FSV Mainz 05, the promoted team has missed its first win of the season. The team of coach Stefan Leitl deservedly lost 0: 3 (0: 2) after a long and erratic performance and only had one point to show after three match days. In addition, there is the first round of the DFB Cup.

Leitl buried his hands deep in his trouser pockets, shouted his anger and repeatedly waved him away in exasperation. But as much as the coach of SpVgg Greuther Fürth suffered on the sidelines – the false start of the newcomer in his second Bundesliga adventure is taking on ever clearer contours.

“It starts as always, properly. Then there are a number of individual stories that you shouldn’t allow yourself. Some things didn’t fit,” said Leitl at Sky. Maximilian Bauer added: “Once again, we received the goals too easily and did not defend as well either. That is not enough at the level.”

The Rheinhessen celebrated the second win of the season through Anderson Lucoqui (15th) with his first Bundesliga goal, Adam Szalai (18th) and Kevin Stöger (90th + 2). The FSV ended a black streak of five home defeats in a row against Fürth. “I think it was a well-deserved victory. Three games, six points is a pretty ideal start,” said Mainz sports director Martin Schmidt.

In front of 11,500 spectators, Leitl relied on the same starting eleven that scored against Arminia Bielefeld (1: 1) last Saturday. The Dutch ex-international Jetro Willems, signed on Wednesday, took his place on the bench. In an intensely led game, however, the hosts had direct advantages and combined handsomely, lacking accuracy on the last pass.

Penalty withdrawn for Mainz after VAR use

After a quarter of an hour, Mainz then cleared the starting line-up Lucoqui in the penalty area, who took the lead after a first rescue act by Sascha Burchert. The goal had an effect, Fürth left too many rooms, and Szalai punished this immediately.

Mainz subsequently slowed down a bit, but the guests were unable to use this – quite the opposite: With some hair-raising playback errors, Fürth repeatedly invited the 05er to dangerous counter-attacks.

Even after the break, Fürth remained unfocused, Mainz was much closer to another goal. After a handball by Abiama in front of the line, referee Tobias Reichel (Stuttgart) took back a penalty after video evidence (49th) for Moussa Niakhate’s offside position.

The hosts pushed for the final decision with a mature play system, but Burchert saved strongly against Jonathan Burkardt (56th). Fürth only caught himself in the final phase, substitute Jamie Leweling brought in momentum and pulled just over the goal after a corner kick (67th). Paul Seguin (73rd) also made it dangerous from a distance.

1. FSV Mainz 05 – SpVgg Greuther Fürth: The lineups

• Mainz: Zentner – St. Juste, Bell, Niakhate – Widmer, Kohr (75th Stach), Lucoqui (88th Martin) – Barreiro, Boetius (83rd Lee) – Burkardt (75th Onisiwo), Szalai (89th Stöger). – Trainer: Svensson
• Fürth: Sascha Burchert – Meyerhöfer, Bauer, Hoogma, Itter (46th Christiansen) – Sarpei – Seguin, Green (60th Leweling) – Nielsen (72nd Dudziak) – Abiama, Hrgota. – Trainer: Leitl