Lee Jae-Sung Scored The First Goal And Showed Perfect Activity!
Lee Jae-sung presented his first win to Mainz, who was in a slump with a score.
Mainz beat Leipzig 2-0 in the 10th round of the German Bundesliga in the 2023-24 season at Meva Arena in Mainz, Germany, at 11:30 p.m. on the 4th. With the victory, he escaped Mainz from the bottom and placed 17th. 사설토토
Mainz made up the starting list with Gentner, van den Berg, Littish, Lee Jae-sung, Barreiro, Onishwar, Richter, Kashi, Fernandez, Gilabogie and Core.
In response, Leipzig started Blaswich, Simakan, Baumgartner, Oppenda, Simmons, Raum, Castello, Schlager, Henrihi and Cample.
Both teams had a quiet first half. In the 25th minute of the first half, Baumgartner, who received a backheel pass from Cample from outside the box, tried to shoot but missed, and Simmons boldly sought to score in a counterattack in the 28th minute of the first half, but this also turned away from the goal.
Mainz also took the opportunity from time to time. Richter’s free kick in the 33rd minute of the first half failed to lead to a goal as it was held in the arms of Blaswich keeper. Then, in the 38th minute of the first half, Lee Jae-sung spilled Kashi’s pass and created an opportunity, but the defense cleared it and failed. Thus, the first half ended 0-0.
The game was similar in the second half. Leipzig put Benjamin Seshko and Timo Werner in the 22nd minute of the second half to reverse the quiet game, and Mainz began to make changes with Aymen Barcork and Tom Kraus.
Lee Jae-sung broke the tight economic trend. In the 31st minute of the second half, Lee Jae-sung put his head on a cross by Onishwar from the right side and cut the net. It was his first scoring shot since the last second round against Frankfurt.
Mainz, who gained momentum, scored an additional point. In the 35th minute of the second half, Barreiro scored a goal to make it 2-0 in a mixed situation. Leipzig’s attack was dull throughout the second half and the game ended in a 2-0 Mainz victory.
A crisis has come this season for Mainz, who successfully finished the season by ranking ninth last season. Although it is premature to discuss relegation because it is early in the season, Mainz is off to the worst start in recent years.
Various reasons worked in combination and fell into a slump. The first is Anton Stach’s absence. Last season, Mainz was able to threaten top teams and aim for a European competition because of Stach. Stach, who has a multi-functionality that can cover not only the third but also the second-tier region, played a key role in the midfield last season with one goal and four assists in 30 league games. When he played as a defensive midfielder, he added stability to the team by using his excellent physical condition of 193 centimeters, and was active in all aspects of offense and defense.
However, Stach left the team just before the summer transfer window closed. The destination was Hoffenheim in the same Bundesliga. The transfer fee was 10 million euros (about 14.2 billion won), which was quite high for a player with only a year left on his contract, but Mainz lacked time to find a replacement as the transfer was made at the last minute. Kraus, who was recruited from Leipzig ahead of this season, was assigned to replace Stach, but it was too much to completely replace him.
Stach’s absence was revealed in the stadium. The third line line guarded by Barreiro and Kraus continued to expose anxiety, and Lee Jae-sung, who was in the second line and led the team’s attack like Stach, also lost power. As a result, the bold soccer that Mainz has been pursuing is losing its color.
Another reason is the loose 300 line. Mainz, who has mainly used three backs since Bosvensson’s appointment, boasted excellent defensive organization, with the fourth-fewest number of runs in the league in the 2021-22 season. Although the team overall faltered and recorded many runs at the end of last season, it only allowed two runs in four pre-season games, and once again seemed to refine its defensive organization. However, from the opening to the ninth round against Bochum, he allowed as many as 24 goals in nine league games, completely collapsing.
Bad luck, such as injuries, also followed. Andreas Hanche-Olsen, who joined in the second half of last season and played one of the three backs, left a few games with an ankle injury early in the season. However, apart from that, Fernandez and Stefan Bell, who played as key center backs last season, are showing the worst performance. On top of that, Van den Berg, who was hired on loan from Liverpool, also leaves a disappointment, contrary to expectations.
The biggest problem on the defensive line is dealing with ball in the air balls in the air. Of the 24 goals Mainz has lost this season, as many as nine are header goals. On top of that, more than half of them are included in the failure of central defenders to compete for aerial balls.
For these reasons, Mainz replaced Svensson after failing to perform. Mainz said on the club’s website on the 3rd, “Coach Svensson is no longer coach of Mainz. After talking to director Christian Heidel, he decided to leave Mainz. For the time being, Jan Zibert, who is in charge of Mainz’s Under-23 (U-23) team, will take the helm of the first division, officially announced.
Although he is an acting coach, Mainz succeeded in reversing the atmosphere by winning his first win of the season in the first game with a new coach. Lee Jae-sung also proved to be the team’s “ace” in name and reality by operating a scoring shot under a changed coach.