Under the watchful eye of their former coach Jürgen Klopp, FSV Mainz 05 lost to Werder Bremen despite being in the majority for half an hour. Mainz lost 1:2 (1:1) at the end of the third matchday in the Bundesliga. For Bremen, it is the first league win of the season, for the 05ers the first defeat.
Werder’s Marvin Ducksch scored the early lead with a penalty in front of 32,000 spectators (8th minute). South Korean international Jae-sung Lee equalized for FSV (27th minute). The winning goal for the visitors was scored by Derrick Köhn, who had just been substituted on, while they were outnumbered (69th minute). Werder captain Marco Friedl had previously been shown the red card for an emergency braking tackle (60th minute).
Klopp receives emotional welcome
Before the match, Klopp, who was sitting in the stands, was celebrated by the Mainz fans. The supporters welcomed him with chants of “Jürgen, Jürgen, Jürgen”. The 57-year-old shaped an era for the Rhineland-Palatinate team, being their head coach from 2001 to 2008. Under Klopp, Mainz achieved their first promotion to the Bundesliga in 2004.
Klopp saw an opening phase in which both teams showed a lot of offensive drive. The guests from Bremen had three chances to take the lead, but first Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner parried, then two of the 05ers’ defenders cleared the ball just before the line.
Early transfer at Werder
Just moments later, Bremen’s Justin Njinmah fell in the penalty area after a challenge with Dominik Kohr. Ducksch converted the penalty. The striker had recently caused a stir by criticising coach Ole Werner for his coaching in the 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund.
Werner fielded the same starting eleven as against BVB, but after just twelve minutes the injured Njinmah had to be replaced by Marco Grüll. Shortly before that, Werder were lucky when Mainz midfielder Nadiem Amiri only hit the crossbar with a powerful long-range shot.
Mainz uses Zetterer’s mistake to equalize
The FSV kept the pressure on and were rewarded with an equalizer through Lee – but with the kind help of Bremen’s keeper Michael Zetterer, who was unable to hold onto the ball when Anthony Caci crossed, allowing Lee to tap in. The game remained fast-paced until half-time, but there were no more big chances on either side.
Mainz, who were without defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen due to a head injury, had a huge chance to take the lead at the start of the second half. But Hyun-seok Hong failed to score from close range and a tight angle against Zetterer (50th minute). In the 58th minute, the 29-year-old deflected a dangerous header from Caci over the goal.
Then Friedl was shown the red card for a foul on Jonathan Burkardt – a harsh but justifiable decision. After the sending off, the Rhinelanders seemed to have the advantage. But Köhn struck after an outstanding counterattack.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240915-930-233339/1
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