PLAYER RATINGS | Werder Bremen 0-2 Mainz – Goals from Paul Nebel and Jae-Sung Lee gives Mainz a buffer over the relegation zone
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A busy Sunday afternoon in the Bundesliga kicked off with a good old-fashioned relegation six-pointer as 14th-placed Werder Bremen welcomed 15th-placed Mainz to the Weserstadion.
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Three points for either side could prove crucial come May, with back-to-back wins for the hosts lifting them above their opponents and four points above the bottom two. After their revival in Urs Fischer’s early days in charge, the visitors have stagnated slightly in recent weeks and now find themselves three points clear of the automatic relegation zone.
Daniel Thioune made two changes from last week’s impressive victory at Union Berlin. Niklas Stark and Senne Lynen both missed out through injury, so Julian Malatini and Leonardo Bittencourt stepped into the starting XI. Fischer, meanwhile, stuck with the same lineup that held Stuttgart to a draw at the MEWA Arena last weekend.
Mainz began the game sharply and deservedly took the lead just five minutes in after Phillipp Mwene worked himself into space on the wing and superbly picked out Paul Nebel in the box. Unmarked, the midfielder made no mistake with his header to score only his second goal of the season. Nebel and his Mainz teammates dedicated the goal to stricken teammate Silas after the forward’s season-ending injury in midweek.
The goal seemed to give the hosts a wake-up call, and they almost regained parity immediately. Leonardo Bittencourt met a Cameron Puertas corner with a bullet header; unfortunately for the hosts, the ball rattled the crossbar. A few minutes later, Marco Grüll set Romano Schmid through on goal with an excellent through ball, but the Austrian failed to connect properly and sent his effort straight into the arms of Daniel Batz.
Chances for the remainder of the half were few and far between, and Mainz went into the break a goal in front.
The second half began in incredible fashion, with chances aplenty for both sides. The first opportunity fell to the hosts after last weekend’s Man of the Match, Jens Stage, brilliantly laid the ball off for Grüll, whose effort drifted just the wrong side of the post.
Moments later, Mainz should have doubled their lead when Phillip Tietz’s headed effort flew wide of the target. They would have their second of the game just a minute later, though. Kaishu Sano intercepted an attempted pass from Marco Friedl in the middle of the park and picked out Sheraldo Becker on the right wing. Becker’s low cross fell just beyond the reach of the outstretched Bittencourt, and Jae-Sung Lee was on hand to tap in at the far post.
After that, Bremen looked like a team well beaten. They huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser for the rest of the game but never truly fashioned any real scoring chances, despite a flurry of late corners. Mainz were excellent in denying Bremen even a sniff of a goal after doubling their lead and very good value for the victory. One that lifts them back above their opponents and into 13th place in the Bundesliga.
Before the international break, Bremen face another critical game next weekend away to fellow strugglers Wolfsburg. Meanwhile, Mainz plays host to Eintracht Frankfurt as the business end of the Bundesliga approaches.
Werder Bremen 0-2 Mainz | Player Ratings
Werder Bremen:
Mio Backhaus (5) – Yukinari Sugawara (5), Julian Malatini (6), Marco Friedl (5), Olivier Deman (5) – Leonardo Bittencourt (6), Jens Stage (6), Cameron Puertas (6) – Marco Grüll (5), Romano Schmid (5), Keke Topp (5)
Others: Justin Njinmah (5), Mick Schmetgens (6), Isaac Schmidt (–), PatriceČović (–), Salim Musah (-)
Mainz:
Daniel Batz (7) – Silvan Widmer (6) Danny Da Costa (6), Stefan Posch (6), Dominik Kohr (6), Phillipp Mwene (6) – Kaishu Sano (7), Paul Nebel (7), Jae-Sung Lee (7) – Sheraldo Becker (6), Phillip Tietz (5)
Others: Nelson Weiper (-), NikolasVeratschnig (-), Kacper Potulski (-), Sota Kawaski (-), Lennard Maloney (-)
GGFN Man of the Match | Paul Nebel (7)
The Man of the Match award could have been awarded to one of several Mainz players this afternoon in what was a brilliant team performance from Die Nüllfunfer. Paul Nebel takes it though for his outstanding work rate throughout and an excellently taken goal that set his team on their way to victory.
GGFN | Harry Good