Four goals, a clean sheet, three points - SVW really couldn’t ask for much more from their third Bundesliga fixture of the season. The Green-Whites delivered a goal spectacle against 1. FSV Mainz 05 after starting the match strong at the wohninvest WESERSTADION. Ducksch calmly slotted away a penalty (3’), but later had to be replaced due to an injury. In the second half, Stage (53’) and the two substitutes Bittencourt (82’) and Njinmah (83’) added to the tally to wrap up a 4-0 win!
Line-up and formation: New signing Olivier Deman made his maiden appearance in the Werder squad on the bench, alongside Milos Veljkovic, who recovered from the illness which forced him to sit out of the fixture against Freiburg.
Werder’s starting XI: Pavlenka – Jung, Stark, Pieper, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Kownacki, Schmid, Friedl, Groß.
Bench: Zetterer – Deman, Bittencourt, Veljkovic, Lynen, Njinmah, Rapp, Woltemade, Opitz.
First-half highlights:
2nd minute:So much commotion in the Mainz penalty box! Schmid plays a superb ball through to Kownacki, who can’t stay on his feet and loses possession, but the ball luckily rolls across to Ducksch, who is tripped by Hanche-Olsen as he tried to slot the ball into the empty net. Penalty to Werder!
3rd minute: GOAL! Marvin Ducksch slots it into the bottom-right corner to make it 1-0 to the Green-Whites!
9th minute: Ducksch finds Stage, who releases a shot on goal, but it’s saved on the stretch by Zentner.
17th minute: Stage drives in and plays it into Jung, who makes a run in from the left. He looks to find Kownacki, but the pass is intercepted. Werder are getting into a good flow now!
22nd minute: Ducksch takes a free-kick, but it’s blocked by Mainz’s defence. Werder play on, but Ducksch goes down clutching his leg and can't continue. Woltemade takes his place up front.
27th minute: Schmid takes charge of the next Werder attack and uses the supporting Weiser, who returns it to Schmid in the Mainz penalty box. The Austrian shoots first-time but is unable to keep it down.
34th minute: The ball is played through to Woltemade, who takes a strong first touch, but Zentner rushes out and smothers the ball safely.
43rd minute: Stage plays in Kownacki on the left wing and he pulls the trigger immediately, but hits the outside of the net.
Second-half highlights:
53rd minute: Goal! Jens Stage heads in from a brilliant Weiser cross to put Werder 2-0 up!
61st minute: Schmid’s free-kick is punched away by Zentner and it drops to Stage. His effort isn’t powerful enough and goes wide.
67th minute: Schmid takes another free-kick, this time from the left. It’s a good delivery and Pieper meets it with his head, only to see it go wide.
82nd minute: Justin Njinmah latches onto a clearance and Mainz are short on numbers in defence. He uses his fresh legs to sprint past his man and into the box, before playing the ball across goal for Leonardo Bittencourt to turn hom and increase SVW’s lead to three!
83rd minute: Another substitute is on the scoresheet. Brilliant one-touch football sets Schmid on his way and he slots it through to Njinmah, who keeps his cool and makes it 4-0!
90th minute + 5: It's all over. Werder beat 1. FSV Mainz 4-0!
Summary: Werder finally win at home again! Ole Werner’s side performed fantastically right from the off and kept things tight at the back too. Mainz had a few chances, but Pavlenka or the defence dealt with them. Ducksch and Stage put SVW 2-0 up, and the substitutes Bittencourt and Njinmah sealed the first points of the season.
