Scoring goals is not one of Mainz defender Alexander Hack’s core competencies. The 28-year-old was therefore all the more delighted to score his fifth goal in his 99th Bundesliga match.
On Saturday at Eintracht Frankfurt, Hack will almost certainly complete the 100. Since Jeremiah St. Juste’s injury, the Mainz number 42 has been part of the starting eleven, appearing eight times in a row at kick-off. St. Juste will not be fit for action again until February at the earliest after his shoulder operation.
In the 05er’s three-man backline, Hack occupies the central position, a role that suits him. In the 4:0 win against Hertha BSC on Tuesday, he impressed with precise passes from the sixteenth to the Berlin penalty area, which resulted in dangerous scenes. Hack then had reason to celebrate in the 41st minute when he scored the 2:0 with a deflected left-footed shot after receiving a pass from Anton Stach.
All in all, it was impressive that Mainz kept up the forward momentum even after the 3:0 by Silvan Widmer (49th) and the 4:0 by Jean-Paul Boetius (79th) and created a chance ratio of 12:2 and were also convincing in terms of play. 68 percent possession is a new high under coach Bo Svensson. “Everyone was keen to go one better both in terms of play and fighting. It was a cohesive team performance from front to back,” Hack summed up. Marcus Ingvartsen, Boetius, Daniel Brosinski, Paul Nebel and Kevin Stöger, who came on as substitutes between the 63rd and 77th minutes, also “went one better”.
With 24 points from 16 games, Mainz are already in a completely different position before the neighbourly duel at Eintracht than they were a year ago. Back then, they were second to last in the table with six points from 13 games, now they are sixth with 24 points. One component of their success is their good defensive performance. With an average of 1.0 goals conceded per game, the Rheinhessen have the second-best defence in the league. In the winter of 2020/21, the average was 2.0. “That’s credit to everyone. It starts up front, we just know how to keep the zero,” Hack also puts that down to “a cohesive performance. “
