WKarim Onisiwo did not yet know he would start with the ball he took from the field into the dressing room. “I still have to think about that, I wasn’t prepared for this situation,” he said. “This situation” – it was a very special one for the FSV Mainz 05 striker.
For the first time in the Bundesliga, for the first time in his entire career, he had scored three goals in one game. What’s more, he was involved in all of Rheinhessen’s goals in the 5-2 win over VfL Bochum. “The guy is amazing,” enthused sporting director Martin Schmidt after the final whistle of the “irresistible Karim”.
In fact, the Austrian must have given his opponents sleepless nights, none of whom was able to restrict his urge to move. First and foremost Ivan Ordets, whom he duped on the left flank in the development of the 2-0 by only feigning acceptance of the ball played out of defense by Anthony Caci, letting the ball pass and then having a clear path into the penalty area. The fact that he stumbled when stepping over it didn’t detract from the action; the ball rolled from the foot of Bochum captain Anthony Losilla to Mainz captain Silvan Widmer, who completed the attack.
Like after a rejuvenation
Onisiwo did not receive a scorer point for the opening goal, but that was also largely due to him – in this case it was a sprint down the right wing and a cross into the six-yard box. Jae-sung Lee initially slipped wide of the ball, but scored after a second pass through Caci.
Onisiwo made it 3-0 from a tight angle with a remarkable lob in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Manuel Riemann. Leandro Barreiro prepared the 4-0 in the second half, Onisiwo shot from the inside right into the far corner. And with his third goal he took the pressure off the boiler that had arisen after Bochum’s surprising double strike; the Austrian volleyed a ball chipped into the sixteen by Aymen Barkok into the upper right corner.
In a way, the striker behaved anti-cyclically. “Actually, he should be a bit tired in the third game of the English week,” said Schmidt. Instead, Onisiwo turned up the heat as if he had just completed a rejuvenation. “If the referee hadn’t blown the whistle, Karim would still be running.”
Also dragged through
And that’s despite missing most of the winter prep due to a toe injury. “I was out for ten weeks so it took me the first two games to get back into shape.” His performance in the 1-1 draw at Stuttgart was poor, both tactically and body language. Bo Svensson had also attested to that. “I had to tell him that, otherwise I wouldn’t have done my job well,” noted the coach.
Onisiwo still played at a manageable level against Borussia Dortmund. No reason for the coach to put him on the bench. “Karim had to play to get his power.” For that it was necessary to drag the strongest Mainz attacker of the first part of the season through. As a thank you, he catapulted himself to the top of the team’s internal scorer list on Saturday. He now has seven goals and four assists, having already scored three of his goals on matchdays one and three.
The game against VfL Bochum could mean a kind of turning point for the attacker, who came to Bruchweg from Matternburg in January 2016. Because there was another aspect that made his three goals possible and that should come into play more often from now on: the Frenchman Ludovic Ajorque, who was signed last Tuesday. After his brief appearance against BVB, those responsible at 05 had already pointed out that the offensive game would change fundamentally with him. This was evident against VfL for 81 minutes.
The 1.96-metre-tall forward took on the role of target player that Onisiwo has so often played in recent months, robbing him of his true strengths. “Ludo fixes the balls and passes them on,” said Onisiwo. “It’s good for me because I can move freely and go into the interface.”
When the 30-year-old, who is also capable of breaking up tight situations against two or three defenders, sprints deep, there are few opponents in the league who can slow him down. As he puts it cautiously: “With my speed I can cause problems for a defence.”
