After barely four minutes and thus as early as never before, Mainz 05 led 2-0. The somnambulistic certainty with which the lead was achieved surprised even those involved.
Aaron played a corner short to Jae-Sung Lee, whose pass into the centre landed a few metres from the penalty line, where Anton Stach tried to reach it. This was the variation the trio rehearsed at FSV’s final training session on Friday. “I had four shots or so, I didn’t really hit any of them “, said Stach a day later after he and his team had beaten Wolfsburg 3-0.
In the game against VfL, the short corner worked even better. “It’s nice that Anton saved himself for that good shot “, coach Bo Svensson commented with a smile on the contrast between the high error rate in training and the well-placed shot in the game. Stach’s goal in the 4th minute means Mainz’s fastest 2-0 lead in the top flight. The previous record was six minutes in the 3:1 against Freiburg on Matchday 19 2011/12.
Svensson on Stach: “Committed for the future “
The 23-year-old Stach was in the 05 starting eleven for only the second time, for the first time as the sole six. This was Svensson’s reaction to the absence of Dominik Kohr, who will miss until the winter break due to a muscle-tendon injury in his thigh. In the previous game, Leandro Barreiro had taken his place, but he is more valuable as an eighth, and thus also set up Jonathan Burkardt’s 1:0 against Wolfsburg with a classy pass.
“Anton has been training very, very well for a long time. He already played on the six last season at Fürth. He has great talent, which he showed on the pitch against Wolfsburg. It commits for the future,” said Svensson.
The 2:0 by Stach as well as the 3:0 by an own goal by Maxence Lacroix came from stationary balls, which meant the standard goals number four and five for Mainz 05 this season. The Wolfsburg defender scored the final goal after a Jean-Paul Boetius free-kick was pushed into his own net by Lacroix under pressure from Stefan Bell. Mainz had scored comparatively few goals from stationary balls so far, which is why the coaching team also had the new variants rehearsed.