Mainz beat Augsburg to remain unbeaten
Mainz - 1. FSV Mainz 05 held off a late FC Augsburg onslaught to record a 2-1 victory at the Coface Arena.
Too little, too late
With new signing Jairo making his starting debut, Mainz began confidently, as befits a side yet to taste defeat this season. Jonas Hofmann tested Marwin Hitz in the Augsburg goal, while Shinji Okazaki’s movement up front left the visitors’ defence chasing shadows. It took 20 minutes for the dominant hosts to open the scoring, and it inevitably came from the inspired Hofmann. His third goal of the season was a thing of beauty, twisting and turning before beating Hitz at his near post.
The hosts doubled their lead just three minutes later, with Jairo taking advantage of some slack Augsburg defending to place his confident finish into the bottom corner. Augsburg, stung, looked to force a way back through Halil Altintop and Raul Bobadilla, yet the well-organised Mainz defence was foiling their best efforts. The closest they came was five minutes before the break, as Bobadilla’s free-kick drew a smart save from Loris Karius.
Karius was called into action early in the second-half, as Augsburg, and particularly Bobadilla began peppering his goal with shots. One effort from Ragnar Klavan drew a superb save from the young custodian, while the entry of Abdul Rahman Baba at left-back gave Augsburg more pace and width.
Mainz were being forced ever deeper, and Okazaki cut an isolated figure, while Tobias Werner began to emerge as Augsburg’s best form of attack. He fired a free-kick just over after 70 minutes, before his stooping header from Baba’s cross finally beat Karius. Mainz’s defensive organisation, with Julian Baumgartlinger particularly influential in midfield, just about held off the visitors’ renewed verve, however, as Kasper Hjulmand’s side remain unbeaten.
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