Draw against in-form Mainz

SC fans could hardly have imagined the team getting off to a better start. The first attack from Freiburg, decked out in a special red and white striped shirt to celebrate the club’s 120th anniversary, led to the opening goal. Lucas Höler played the ball through to Ritsu Doan, who wasn’t put under pressure from an opponent and was able to take his time measuring up his cross. His ball into the middle avoided all the Mainz defenders and perfectly found Michael Gregoritsch, who headed home from close range (6’).

SC made one change from the 1-0 win in Darmstadt, with Roland Sallai suspended having picked up five yellow cards and replaced in the starting eleven by Höler, who himself was coming back from suspension. As in Darmstadt, SC started in a 3-4-3 formation with Yannik Keitel in the middle of a back-three.

Mainz travelled to Baden-Württemberg full of confidence having picked up ten points in their previous four Bundesliga games. The players who have stood out time and time again during this run have been young attackers Brajan Gruda and Jonathan Burkardt. It was Dominik Kohr who had the Zerofivers’ first chance, however, just missing the top left-hand corner with a lob from the edge of the box. Other chances of note were an Anthony Caci shot from a corner (20’) and a Nadiem Amiri freekick (24’) which was just over.

Zentner saves, Burkardt scores

With Mainz looking to press, Vincenzo Grifo ripped the Zerofivers’ defence apart with a diagonal switch and following headers from Höler and Doan, Günter suddenly found himself free in the penalty area. The SC captain pulled the ball across goal to the top of the box to Gregoritsch, who forced Robin Zentner into a brilliant save with his foot to turn the ball behind for a corner (29’). At the other end, Noah Atubolu also saved with his foot from Burkardt to keep SC ahead.

Shots from distance remained an effective approach from Mainz. After 39 minutes, Gruda had a shot with his left from the edge of the box but narrowly missed the target. The visitors also continually posed a threat out wide. Only a minute after the Gruda chance, Caci sent a low ball across goal to Burkardt, who got to the ball before Keitel and gave Atubolu no chance from close range. The teams went in for half time with the scores level at 1-1.

Mainz made one half time substitution, with Tom Krauß coming on for Leandro Barreiro, while the Freiburg coaching staff didn’t make any early changes. The second half began much less intensely than the first half. It took until the 53rd minute for the first good opportunity, with Nicolas Höler heading towards goal after a freekick routine, but Dominik Kohr was able to clear the ball at the far post.

Gregoritsch unlucky not to score

Michael Gregoritsch had the best chance of the second half after 58 minutes. Merlin Röhl, who had come on just two minutes earlier, carried the ball from the halfway line before feeding it through to Gregoritsch. The Austria international found some space on the left-hand side of the box but his shot across goal rolled wide of the far post.

“It was a difficult game. Mainz are in their best form of the season,” said SC head coach Christian Streich after the game. “For us, it was about working with a lot of discipline. The team did that well. I am not unhappy today.”

Both Lukas Kübler (63’) and Jonathan Burkardt (67’) then headed over from promising positions. The crowd of 34,300 at the Europa-Park Stadion saw a conclusion to the game which was competitive but lacked clear-cut chances. A Gregoritsch shot from the edge of the box which Zentner was able to hold onto was the last notable chance of the second half (82’), with the score remaining one apiece. This point means that SC have climbed above TSG Hoffenheim and FC Augsburg in the table and now sit in seventh place. SC host VfL Wolfsburg at the Europa-Park Stadion this coming Saturday (15:30 CEST).

Photo: Achim Keller