Thanks to the victory of hard work, Borussia Dortmund reduced the difference against leaders Bayern Munich. BVB won the catch-up match at 1. FSV Mainz 05 Wednesday night 1-0 (0-0) and advanced four points behind the record champion.
Axel Witsel (87) scored the winning goal in the last minutes after a free kick from Dortmund by Giovanni Reina.
Match winner Witsel said: “I always go second, I’ve scored similar goals before. I’m not a great goalscorer, but I didn’t want to finish the season without a goal. I’m very happy.” dazn. Emre Chan added: “Victories like this are special. You have to cooperate as a team, dig in and keep the zero point at the back. The taste of victory is very good.”
Mainz, who had asked to postpone the match that was originally scheduled for the 25th match due to 19 Corona injuries in the team, suffered his first defeat at home after eight matches and the tenth remained in the middle of the table.
Mainz coach Bo Svensson quarreled and criticized the referee: “I didn’t see a chance for Dortmund from the match, but they still won the match, this is very annoying,” and criticized the referee: “I found some decisions a bit strange. They were few. Things that stand out.” But he did not want to go into details.
Before the match, there was a minute’s silence in honor of the late German Football Association Honorary President Egideus Braun. In addition, both teams put up a large banner for peace in Ukraine.
FSV Mainz 05 – BVB: Analysis
Barcelona coach Rose trusted the same team that played against Armenia Bielefeld (1-0) on Sunday. Haaland initially only sat on the bench, some of the seats remaining empty due to the tense staff situation (Hummels and Reuss were still missing). Only seven replacements were available to Rose.
Dortmund initially tried to control the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Despite dominance and possession of the ball by 66.5 percent in the first quarter of the hour, there were no serious goals. Mainz relied on quick transfers, ostensibly pressured and wanted to force Dortmund to make construction errors. The interim defense minister can be acquitted three times in dire need (the third, sixteenth, twenty-seventh).
Dortmund lacked speed in the attacking match, Mainz filled the space and the visitors were unable to create holes. Regardless of Hazard’s inoffensive conclusion (22), Zentner was virtually unemployed in the first round. Stach missed the biggest chance for Mainz before the end of the first half and missed the goal with a free kick (45).
Both teams started the second half with unchanged personnel, Dortmund acted more actively, but the match remained unimaginable forward. Stach (51′) made Mainz more dangerous. After Haaland entered the Wolf position (57th position), Mallin moved to the wing. But Mainz remained the most dangerous team in the beginning.
On the Dortmund side, Malin moved from a promising position (66th position). The BVB increased the pressure, and tested Haaland Zentner (ranked 68). With Brandt and Reyna, Rose brought in more offensive forces against the home team, who was feeling tired now. Then Witsel managed a lucky punch: he scored in the last stage after a free kick from Dortmund.
FSV Mainz 05 – BVB: Profiles
- Mainz: Zentner – Tauer (77th Brosinski), Bell, Niakhate – Widmer, Stach (71st Papela), Stöger, Lucoqui – Burkardt, Ingvartsen (71st Boetius) – Onisiwo
- DortmundKoppel – Paslak, Kahn, Bongraich, Schulz – Witsel, David (Reina 69) – Wolff (Haaland 57), Hazard, Bellingham – Malin (Brandt 69)
FSV Mainz 05 – BVB: Game Data
FSV Mainz 05 – BVB: Votes
Bo Svensson (FS coach, Mainz 05): “It was more than a draw. My team did really well under the circumstances. We conceded very little but failed to play some games better. Overall, I can’t blame the team. They left everything on the pitch. I’m proud of my team but upset that we didn’t get a point.”
Marco Rose (Borussia Dortmund coach): “It was a tough match that we expected. Overall, it was a tough game that we didn’t go into at the beginning. We didn’t have a lot of chances to score, but we didn’t allow a lot of chances either. We are of course the lucky winners. It would have been a good 0-0. I am very happy that we passed in Mainz. I have to give the team a big compliment.”
The star of the game: Axel Witsel
With his first goal of the season, the Belgian became the Dortmund match winner late in the game. As he explained in front of the defense, the interim captain made a solid game previously.
Game Fail: Marius Wolf
Still a match winner against Bielefeld, Wolff remained completely pale in his 57 minutes. Otherwise only noticed when there was a beam formation before the break. After all, he made an intriguing highlight when he was caught in Onisiwo’s shoelace in the opponent’s penalty area.
Referee: Sasha Stegmann
The 37-year-old gave the players a long leash at first, as the two teams exhausted themselves in duels and the match became increasingly heated. Stegemann justifiably painted yellow several times. Burckhardt was properly allowed to continue at sixteen after the paint bump went through. Kahn’s push into the penalty area against Onisio (62nd position) was a boundary line, but the whistle was muted here, in line with his streak.