“It was a bit tough to watch today”

A goalless draw at the MEWA ARENA kicked off the Zerofivers’ home Bundesliga campaign, as Mainz and Union Berlin shared the points. It was a result which reflected the run of the game, said the team, even if there were chances to win it in the closing stages.

Karim Onisiwo: “It was a real fight of a game, and we were aware of what we were up against. It was a game of few chances, and definitely not the prettiest match to look at. Union made getting in behind very tough for us – our next step to improvement will be to find space against those opponents who sit back. Nevertheless, four points from our first two games is a decent start to the season.”

Martin Schmidt: “At the end of the day, it was all about conserving energy. The draw was the right result, even if we probably deserved a bit more out of the game. Both defences were rock solid, and we let almost nothing through apart from long-range shots. In the summer, I underlined one of our targets to be four points from two games, so it’s a solid start.”

Stefan Bell: “Today was a bit tough to watch in parts, especially the first half when both teams were trying to deal with the heat. We had three or four decent opportunities after the break which we should’ve done better with it. We were probably the better team, but it wasn’t like we were so much better that we had to win.”

Dominik Kohr: “I’m pretty satisfied with how we played. We held our own over the full 90 minutes and let almost nothing through. The only thing we needed to do better is taking the few chances we had. I never had the feeling that us guys at the back were under the cosh at any point.”

Maxim Leitsch: “We stood strong defensively, but didn’t have too many chances going forward. It was definitely a poor game for the spectators. All things considered we didn’t do enough, but we earned a point and kept a clean sheet. Four points is a good total so far, and we want to get more in Augsburg.”