4-0 win against Gladbach marks third straight victory for the Zerofivers

A crowd of 32,500 fans were on hand to watch as 1. FSV Mainz 05 opened the weekend with a 4-0 win at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Jae-sung Lee opened the scoring with a header in the 25th minute, as Marcus Ingvartsen doubled the Zerofivers’ advantage just minutes after the second half began (49’). With 20 minutes left to play, winter signing Ludovic Ajorque scored his first Bundesliga goal to make it 3-0. In the final minutes of injury time, 17-year-old Nelson Weiper rounded off the win with his first professional goal for the Zerofivers. The win sees the team climb into seventh place, ahead of the remainder of the weekend’s fixtures.

Head coach Bo Svensson made three change to the starting XI following last weekend’s 3-2 win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Robin Zentner returned in goal in place of Finn Dahmen, with Dominik Kohr replacing Anton Stach (illness) and Marcus Ingvartsen starting in place of Karim Onisiwo (knee).

Gladbach go close, Lee opens the scoring

The opening minutes saw the majority of play concentrated in the middle of the park, with the visitors recording the first chance of the night. Lars Stindl’s shot in the ninth minute sailed wide of the target, however. A well-worked move from Gladbach saw the ball fall to Manu Koné on the edge of the area, with Andreas Hanche-Olsen throwing himself in front of the ball to deny the midfielder a clear shot on goal (18’).

The Zerofivers looked more alert following this early wake-up call, as Lee got on the end of a pass from Anthony Caci, but his shot was parried by goalkeeper Jonas Omlin (21’). Four minutes later, the South Korean did well to power a header past the Gladbach shot-stopper off a cross from Danny da Costa (25’). It was his fifth Bundesliga in 2023, more than any other player in the league.

FSV miss a chance to make it 2-0

Mainz then had a chance to double their advantage after a failed clearance from Nico Elvedi redirected the ball towards Ajorque. The Frenchman was unable to put his effort on target (34’). Ingvartsen then came close shortly before the break, but his shot also missed the goal (41’), as did an effort from Kohr just a few minutes later (45+5’).

Gladbach were limited to a free kick from 20 metres out (45+2’) and a long-range effort from Koné (45+3’) as the first half drew to a close.

Ingvartsen doubles FSV’s lead

The hosts came out of the break with a flurry of chances. First, Leandro Barreiro had a head saved by goalkeeper Tobias Sippel, who had come off the bench to replace the injured Omlin (48’). Ajorque also had a shot parried by the goalkeeper just minutes later, as he pushed the rebound into Ingvartsen’s path and allowed him to smash it into the back of the net from close range (49’).

In the 53rd minute, Zentner was called upon to make his first save after the change of ends, but wasn’t troubled by a long-range effort. The visitors were unable to break down the Mainz backline, who allowed them little room.

Big save from Zentner, Ajorque scores his maiden goal

Gladbach’s best chance of the game came in the 70th minute, as substitute Marcus Thuram found himself through on goal with only Zentner to beat. His shot was thwarted by a well-time foot save from the FSV goalkeeper.

The hosts then stormed down the pitch to score their third of the night on the resulting counterattack. Lee found Ajorque with a clever ball through, as the striker thumped home his first goal for Mainz, effectively putting the game to bed.

Memorable night for Weiper

The final play of the game saw one of Svensson’s substitutes enter into the spotlight. While Aymen Barkok sent a shot narrowly past the post (88’), academy product Nelson Weiper was able to score his first ever professional goal for the club after a cross from Aarón in the final minutes of play (90+3’). The 4-0 win saw FSV leapfrog Gladbach in the table to move up into seventh place for the night.

Next up: Hoffenheim

The Zerofivers will be back at home in just eight days’ time, as they host TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday, 4th March (15:30 CET).