Bundesliga

VfL Wolfsburg – 1. FSV Mainz 05 3: 0: “Wolves” disenchant Bayern conqueror

Published

4 weeks ago

April 30, 2023

Bayern conqueror Mainz 05 is back in everyday Bundesliga life.

The disenchanted Bayern conquerors hung their heads. A week after triumphing over the record German champions, FSV Mainz 05 landed as hard as it gets in the gray everyday life of the Bundesliga: a 0:3 (0:3) at VfL Wolfsburg meant coach Bo Svensson and his team a sobering first defeat after ten games with at least one point.

Mainz played so uninspired, without a chance and without danger on Sunday that even their Twitter account gave up long before the final whistle: “We would like to write something, but nothing happens anymore. Nada, niente, nothing. That’s why we just get in touch with the final score again.” That’s how it happened.

After all, the hosts celebrated their first three in front of their own audience after six games without a win. VfL Wolfsburg seventh in the table, Mainz 05 eighth in the table, both within striking distance of sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen and hoping for the European Cup: there wasn’t much more to say about this game. “After just ten minutes you had the feeling that there was nothing to gain here,” stated Mainz sporting director Martin Schmidt. “That was a black day.”

The North Germans started with determination in front of 23,817 spectators and were rewarded after five minutes. After a remarkable no-look pass from Mattias Svanberg, Jonas Wind was successful from six meters away.

Wolfsburg – Mainz: Wind scores twice

It was also the Dane who pushed the ball over the line to make it 3-0 in the 28th minute after a low cross from Ridle Baku. Fifteen minutes earlier, Sebastiaan Bornauw had scored Wolfsburg’s second goal with a header. In all three situations, the Mainz defense seemed overwhelmed.

And it was only after the third goal conceded that Mainz showed a hint of resistance. But it only became really dangerous for the hosts in the 37th minute, Karim Onisiwo failed in a one-on-one duel against VfL goalkeeper Koen Casteels. The captain and his teammates were bid farewell to the dressing room with applause.

Svensson reacted at half-time and substituted on Anton Stach and Martin. The Mainz development game now seemed more structured, but the actions were not more dangerous. Wolfsburg used this phase of the game to catch some air after a hard-paced first half.

But this artistic break ended after a good hour. The game was more balanced again. Additional bad luck for the guests: From the 65th minute they had to do without their injured captain Silvan Widmer, who was carried off the field on a stretcher.

VfL Wolfsburg – FSV Mainz 05: The line-ups

Wolfsburg: Casteels – Lacroix (46. Cozza), Guilavogui, Bornauw – Baku, Felix Nmecha, Arnold, Kaminski (90.+3 Fischer) – Wimmer (90. Marmoush), Svanberg (83. Gerhardt) – Wind (83. Waldschmidt). – Coach: Kovac

Mainz: Zentner – Hanche-Olsen, Bell, Fernandes (Martin 46) – Widmer (da Costa 65), Barreiro (Stach 46), Kohr, Caci – Onisiwo, Lee (Barkok 61) – Ajorque (Ingvartsen 61). – Coach: Svensson