Mainz level late on

On Sunday afternoon, VfB Stuttgart took on 1. FSV Mainz 05, the Bundesliga's ninth placed team. In a hard fought game, Christian Gross' eleven took an early lead but in the end were left with just one point, and ten men following the sending off of Jens Lehmann, as the home team equalised in injury time from the penalty spot.

The new VfB trainer was forced into replacing the suspended Serdar Tasci and brought Georg Niedermeier to fill in at the centre of defence but otherwise made no adjustments to the eleven that proved so successful in the Champions League in mid-week.
VfB found themselves under some initial pressure at the capacity filled ‘Bruchwegstadion', but took the lead after just eleven minutes. Arthur Boka drove a delivery across the box from the by-line and found Pavel Pogrebnyak, who was able to turn the ball over the line with his thigh. The game then developed into quite an open affair and shortly after VfB had taken the lead, Marica had the chance to increase the deficit but as he broke free, the striker was forced to rush his shot and sliced wide of the mark.

Stefano Celozzi managed to prevent his side from conceding an equaliser in the 17^th minute, as he got a toe in to dispossess Aristide Bance at the final moment and Lehmann was subsequently able to clear. Then it was Mainz riding their luck. Latching on to a through ball from Sami Khedira, Ciprian Marica would have been clear through but was unceremoniously hauled back. The referee opted to play advantage as the ball ran to Timo Gebhart, but the midfielder's shot was stopped by Mainz keeper Müller. At the other end, Lehmann had to be alert in the 21^st minute to clear the danger posed by Ivanschitz and VfB held on to take their narrow lead into the break.

Dramatic end

The second period began similarly to the early phases of the first half. Mainz put the pressure on but VfB were well organised and dealt with the pressure comfortably. At the centre of defence, Georg Niedermeier and Matthieu Delpierre stood solidly, never looking too threatened by the FSV efforts. As the game moved into its closing phase, hectic began to take a grip on the proceedings and Bance and Lehmann became the central figures in the tie. Firstly the striker from the Ivory Coast fouled the 40 year old keeper unnecessarily, but then late in the game, the goalkeeper took his revenge by stepping on the Mainz mans foot. As Bance crashed theatrically to the ground, referee Stark reacted to the incident, awarding a penalty and brandishing the red-card for Jens Lehmann. Gebhart made way for Sven Ulreich, but Eugen Polanski gave the substitute no chance as he converted the spot-kick to level the scores at 1-1 and claim a point for his side.

Post match comments