Union Berlin were already behind in Mainz, but rallied after the break to win 2-1, with Awoniyi the man of the match for the visitors.
Mainz coach Bo Svenssson made just one change after the 1-0 defeat in Leverkusen: Union loanee Ingvartsen replaced Boetius on the bench and made his debut for the 05ers against his former club. The situation was completely different for Union, where coach Urs Fischer had rotated a lot in the 3-0 win over Maccabi Haifa and did so again: Luthe (goal), Jaeckel, Ryerson, Prömel, Awoniyi and Kruse were six newcomers to the starting eleven, while Rönnow (goal), Trimmel, Möhwald, Becker, Behrens and Voglsammer had to make way for them.
Svensson’s worries increase
Mainz had already had major worries in the centre of defence before the game, with Niakhaté (not yet at 100 per cent after injury) and Hack (COVID-19), two important players, missing. Svensson’s worries were compounded after just over a quarter of an hour, which was devoid of anything in terms of play apart from numerous duels and half-baked attacking actions. St. Juste fell down during a tackle, had to be treated on his right shoulder and could not continue.
So newcomer Nemeth unexpectedly made his Bundesliga debut (20th) – and he was to play an important role. Initially, however, the Austrian could not change the mediocrity of the game, although shortly after his substitution both sides had at least half chances through Awoniyi (23rd) and Lucoqui (27th), which had nothing to do with him.
Nemeth initiates decisive counterattack
The first half did not deserve a beauty prize, but it did not end goalless – and that was partly thanks to Nemeth: The 20-year-old intercepted a ball well and immediately initiated the counterattack. The Rheinhessen team played the counterattack quickly and directly. Ingvartsen, of all people, then finished it off perfectly from eleven metres for a 1-0 half-time score (40th).
Union started the second half full of verve and caused the hosts’ hearts to race three times within a few seconds through Ryerson and Kruse (49th). The Berliners invested more, acted more purposefully against Mainz, who were increasingly passive and obviously lurking on the counterattack, and pressed with power for the equaliser: Awoniyi (59th) and Kruse (61st) were just centimetres away.
Fischer’s effort pays off
Fischer upped the ante, bringing on another attacking player in Behrens for Haraguchi. Kruse moved back into midfield and was expected to make the decisive pass to equalise after Barreiro lost the ball: Awoniyi was the enforcer at his old place of work (he made 12 Bundesliga appearances for FSV in 2019/20) (69th) and thus also marked the 100th Bundesliga goal for the capital. The 24-year-old even scored a brace shortly afterwards: After the ball had flown back and forth rather uncontrollably at a throw-in in the Union half, it eventually landed with the attacker, who picked up speed, shook off Nemeth and beat Zentner in the penalty area with a shot into the far corner (73rd).
After the Berliners had turned the game around, the 05ers suddenly woke up and pushed for the equaliser. Onisiwo in particular was conspicuous in this phase, as he appeared dangerously in front of Luthe on several occasions, but in the end was not kissed by luck (78th, 79th, 80th, 85th). In the end, Mainz lost the game, which also included a yellow card against Kohr in injury time.
Mainz face Dortmund (Saturday, 3.30 pm) after the international break. Union welcome Wolfsburg at the same time.
