VfB head coach Sebastian Hoeneß: “I was very satisfied with the opening period. We deservedly went 2-0 up and had the game under control for the first 30 minutes. After that we lost our grip a little and conceded the penalty that allowed Mainz to pull a goal back. In the second half they made it 2-2 and then the game was wide open again. I have to praise my team for the intense pressure they applied in the final 20 minutes. It was only a matter of time before we got our third goal, and it was a brilliant effort from Fabian. We should have held on to win 3-2, so we’ve only got ourselves to blame that we didn’t. The boys deserved to win because they gave so much. The fact of the matter is, however, that we conceded too many goals, but after last week’s defeat in Freiburg it’s a step in the right direction.”
Maximilian Mittelstädt: “It’s extremely frustrating because we wanted to take more from the game. We played really well for much of the match and created a lot of chances to score. If you go 3-2 up in the 88th minute at home then you shouldn’t be conceding an equaliser late on.”
Fabian Rieder: “I can’t put into words how annoyed I am that we conceded the equaliser at the end. We were in front, then came back again and made it 3-2, but conceded the equaliser in the 94th minute. We played well over long stretches, but we shouldn’t have conceded three goals. Now we have to move on. It’s the international break now, so we’ll gather our strength and then go again. We want to give something back to the fans and produce more good performances.”