Dhe FSV Mainz 05 and TSG Hoffenheim do not come from the lower half of the table in the Bundesliga. At the end of the 9th match day, the two clubs parted 1: 1 (1: 0) on Sunday. Mainz is undefeated in three league games after the series of bankruptcies at the start of the season, but would have liked to have made a big leap out of the basement with another win. Robin Quaison (33rd minute) and Ihlas Bebou (62nd) scored the two goals in an intense game in front of the almost empty ranks due to the corona. Hoffenheim’s Dennis Geiger (80th) saw the red card after a foul.
For the team of coach Sebastian Hoeneß the following applies: Europe hui, Bundesliga ugh. While the team around the harmless World Cup runner-up Andrej Kramaric scored four wins from four international games, there has been no victory for Hoffenheim in seven games in the Bundesliga since the furious 4-1 over record champions FC Bayern. The Europa League ranks are a long way off early in the season. Mainz remains without a home win this season.
Heavy burden for Hoffenheim
Coach Jan-Moritz Lichte did not want to jeopardize the upward trend that started at 3: 1 in Freiburg with personnel changes and let the same team play as they did a week ago in Breisgau. That paid off quickly: goal scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta had his first chance early, but his placed header was heavily parried by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann (8th). As a result, there were more top-class hosts for the hosts, who combined strongly in the powerful initial phase, but missed the earned wages several times.
Hoffenheim’s Hoeneß continued to rotate vigorously among its staff amid the triple exposure and after numerous corona infections. After six changes, there wasn’t much left of the team, which won 2-0 at Slovan Liberec on Thursday evening and made it into the next round of the Europa League perfectly. At temperatures around freezing point, however, the TSG appeared lethargic and wait-and-see.
Deserved leadership for Mainz
Only after 20 minutes did Hoffenheim, without a win for more than two Bundesliga months, become stronger. A header from Stefan Posch and a Kramaric shot remained unsuccessful. When Christoph Baumgartner (27) fell after a duel with Alexander Hack in the Mainz penalty area, referee Sascha Stegemann allowed the game to continue – and did not revise the decision even after information from the Cologne video cellar. On the other hand, Quaison gave the 05ers the well-deserved lead.
After a ten-minute break at half-time, Hoeneß sent his players back onto the field – from then on TSG were much more offensive. Numerous attacks rolled towards the Mainz goal, but the last stop was always the strong Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner, who saved the Mainz team from equalizing for a long time with hand, head and foot. Then Ryan Sessegnon played a sharp cross to Bebou, who was right and made it 1-1. Mateta could have decided the game on the other side, but shot against the post after a great solo (75th).
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