A share of the spoils against Eintracht

Mainz played out a 1-1 draw with rivals Eintracht Frankfurt in front of 33,305 spectators at the MEWA ARENA on Sunday afternoon. Jonny Burkardt finally got his first goal of the season in the 40th minute, before Randal Kolo Muani levelled for the guests in the 67th. After the Zerofivers had the better of the first half and Eintracht dominated the second, a draw was ultimately a fair result.

Bo Svensson made four changes from the side that faced Schalke on Wednesday. Stefan Bell, Silvan Widmer, Leandro Barreiro and Jonny Burkardt came in for Anthony Caci, Danny da Costa, Jae-Sung Lee and Marcus Ingvartsen.

Mainz get off to a good start

Mainz made a bright start to the contest and enjoyed a lot of possession in the opposition half. Burkardt had the first opportunity for the hosts after he combined smartly with teammate Leandro Barreiro. The 22-year-old’s shot, however, was deflected wide (8’). FSV didn’t have to wait too long for their next chance as the resulting corner fell to Dominik Kohr, whose effort missed the outside of the post by a whisker (9’). Anton Stach then had an opportunity when he was picked out in the middle by Burkardt, but his header from around eight yards narrowly missed the target (13’).

A tighter contest ensued and the visitors tried to find their way into the game with some longer spells of possession. Jesper Lindstrom looked to take advantage of a loose Fernandes pass in the 29th minute, but goalkeeper Robin Zentner beat him to the ball (29’). Shortly afterwards, the guests thought they had taken the lead when Kolo Muani tapped home from close-range after a pass from Djibril Sow. Luckily for Mainz, however, it was ruled out for offside (33’).

Burkardt gives Mainz the lead

Although Frankfurt had carved out a couple of chances of their own, the Zerofivers continued to look the more likely team and they eventually took the lead just before the break. Stach found Burkardt in the penalty area with a corner from the left-hand side and the 22-year-old’s header was parried away by Trapp. Onisiwo smashed the rebound back towards goal, but the Frankfurt keeper kept it out with his legs. The rebound was headed away back to the Austrian, who headed across goal to find Burkardt, who tapped home from close range (40’). This was the 22-year-old’s first Bundesliga goal since April.

In first half stoppage time, however, things got a bit nervy for Mainz when the referee awarded Frankfurt a penalty for a foul on Kolo Muani. Thankfully, VAR deemed the foul to have been outside the box and a free kick was given instead. The free kick was smashed against the wall and the Zerofivers went in 1-0 up at half time.

Mainz start well but Frankfurt tighten their grip

Mainz came out unchanged for the second half and they started it much like they did the first. Jonny Burkardt tested Trapp with a header (47’), before Widmer narrowly missed the target with an effort from around 16 yards (51’). Leo Barreiro then failed to beat the Frankfurt goalkeeper from close-range, after some clever interplay with Jonny Burkardt (55’). But after the bright opening ten minutes for FSV, Frankfurt started to have the better of the game. Shortly after Dina Ebimbe missed a good chance to equalise in the 64th minute, the visitors got themselves back on level terms. Kolo Muani found himself in on goal after an impressive flick from Mario Götze and the Frenchman took it round Robin Zentner and slotted it home (67’).

Götze then came close with around a quarter of an hour remaining, when he tried to take advantage of Robin Zentner being off his goal line. Despite being 30 yards out, the World Cup winner’s looping effort looked as if it was going in, but Mainz’s keeper recovered well to palm it away (74’). Frankfurt dominated the ball for long stretches as they pushed for the winner but Mainz managed to fashion one last chance with around one minute of normal time remaining, when Barkok’s cross found Danny da Costa at the back post. The former Frankfurt player’s effort, however, was blocked and the chance went begging. This proved to be the final action of the game and the points were shared at the MEWA ARENA. The Zerofivers are now sat in tenth position on 19 points.

A trip to Stuttgart after the World Cup

Mainz are next in Bundesliga action 21st January 2023 when they to travel to Baden-Württemberg to face VfB Stuttgart (15:30 CET).