Jairo strikes twice to sink Hamburg
Jairo Samperio struck two superb goals as 1. FSV Mainz 05 extended their unbeaten run to five matches and halted Hamburger SV's momentum with a 3-1 win on Saturday.
Hamburg 1-3 Mainz
Goals: 0-1 Jairo (16'), 0-2 Jairo (51'), 0-3 Clemens (76'), 1-3 Djourou (90')
The hosts' excellent recent form provided the basis for a confidence-fuelled start from them with Lewis Holtby, up against his former club, flashing a shot wide. Michael Gregoritsch twice fired goalwards in vain – the second opportunity being one he should have taken after Nicolai Müller had found him in space and with time inside the box.
It would only have levelled the scores at the break, though, as Mainz had brilliantly taken the lead just after the quarter-hour mark. When Jairo's attempted cross was cut out and looped back towards him, the Spaniard – prone on the turf – sent a surprisingly crisply-struck volley dipping over Jaroslav Drobny.
While Jairo's first was a thing of individual beauty, his second required a little assistance. He got it first – unwittingly – from Gotoku Sakai, whose unfortunate touch presented Jairo with the ball. His diagonal run and exchange of passes with Yunus Malli then allowed him to fire across Drobny and into the far corner via a post.
The pair were both involved, along with Yoshinori Muto, in the third that ensured the visitors would take all three points – after a tic-tac-toe exchange of passes with his fellow attacking midfielders, Jairo provided the final ball for substitute Christian Clemens to sweep home, and render Johan Djourou's late strike a mere footnote.
Man of the match
Inventive and effective, Jairo's goals – embellished with an assist – were just reward for an excellent display.
Talking point
Mainz are on a real roll with Muto, Malli and Jairo functioning an absolute dream. Could that trio become a reprise of the Bruchweg Boys of Schürrle, Holtby and Szalai?
Match stats
- Mainz are unbeaten in their last five games, a record under Martin Schmidt.Mainz scored with their first shot of the game for the second successive Bundesliga outing.Jairo's brace was his first in the German top flight.Malli registered his first assist of the season with Mainz's second goal.HSV tasted defeat after back-to-back wins.
Line-ups
Hamburg: Drobny - Sakai, Djourou, Cleber, Ostrzolek - Jung (Diaz 58'), Holtby - N. Müller, Gregoritsch, Ilicevic (Hunt 65') - Schipplock (Olic 57')
Mainz: Karius - Brosinski, Bell, Hack, Bengtsson - Baumgartlinger, Jara - De Blasis (Clemens 68'), Malli, Jairo (Beister 85') - Muto (Niederlechner 79')
