Two games, one point. VfB Stuttgart has botched its start in the Bundesliga. In the wild 3:3 (2:1) against 1. FSV Mainz 05, the runners-up have already conceded goals four to six in the still young season. That is definitely too many, complained coach Sebastian Hoeneß. The Swabians are not only annoyed about their sloppy defensive work, but also about referee Timo Gerach.
The 37-year-old had “not had his very best day,” said VfB sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth. The scene that led to Mainz’s penalty and the Rhineland team’s goal to make it 1-2 was particularly controversial. Before the score was 2-2, the Stuttgart team also said there had been a handball by the visitors. There was plenty of frustration at VfB – just a few days after they had celebrated their first competitive win of the season with a 5-0 cup win over Preußen Münster.
Millot and Leweling give VfB a dream start
Enzo Millot (8th minute) and Jamie Leweling (15th) had given VfB an early 2-0 lead in front of 59,000 spectators. However, the hosts failed to add to the score against Mainz, who were initially extremely weak defensively, and possibly decide the match early on. Nadiem Amiri scored a penalty (43rd minute) and Jonathan Burkardt (62nd minute) equalized. Swiss international Fabian Rieder scored VfB’s 3-2 goal with a curious free kick (88th minute), but the 05ers struck back again in injury time through Maxim Leitsch (90th+4).
It was “noticeable” that Stuttgart had “let the game slip out of their hands” at times, as in the 1:3 defeat at SC Freiburg at the league opener, criticised sporting director Wohlgemuth. The defence was “not always solid”. Overall, however, he still sees the team as “on the right path”. Hoeneß agreed. Overall, things are “going in the right direction”, said the coach.
Penalty scene causes discussion
The Stuttgart players also agreed on the scene that brought Mainz back into the game. Wohlgemuth and Hoeneß said it was “not enough for a penalty”. Mainz’s Burkardt fell in a running duel with Millot. He was “given a walking error”, said the fouled player himself. He did not know “exactly what happened”. However, he felt contact and that is what caused him to fall, explained Burkardt.
Mainz coach Bo Henriksen, under whose leadership the Rhineland-Palatinate team remained unbeaten in eleven league games in a row, defended both his player and the referee in the press conference afterwards. Gerach did “very, very well” in view of the many tricky scenes, said the Dane. Burkardt was also “the most honest person I have met in my life”.
Tight program for Stuttgart
Mainz are celebrating their morale after their second point of the season, while VfB are taking a fair amount of frustration into the international break. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund are their next opponents in the Bundesliga, and in between they face Real Madrid in the Champions League. The hurdles remain high for the runners-up.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240831-930-219012/2
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