Bundesliga Match Review: FSV Mainz 05 versus VFB Stuttgart
The German football league, also known as Bundesliga got under way this weekend and FSV Mainz took on Stuttgart in their first home game of the league season at the Bruchwegstadion in Mainz, Germany. The match took place on 22nd of August, 2010 between the two reputed German football clubs. Stuttgart started the new season hoping for a win as the German club desperately hoped that they will be able to rid themselves of the demons that plagued their form last football season.
In the 2009-2010 season, Stuttgart parted ways with their manager half way through the season as they slipped down to as far as the sixteenth place in the Bundesliga table due to their wretched performances. They also sold several key players from theirs squad. In close season, their famous striker Cacau, who has been failed as German football’s future number one center forward, played in the 2010 World Cup with Germany.
At the end of the 2009-2010 season, Stuttgart only managed to finish in the upper half of the table but in doing so the German club secured themselves a place in the UEFA Europa League competition, a second tier tournament for European club sides. Such an achievement has been looked down upon at Stuttgart, who were playing Champions’ League football only last season against the likes of Barcelona.
On the other hand, their opponents FSV Mainz 05 ended last season’s German league campaign with a ninth place finish in the Bundesliga charts. Mainz, under their manager Thomas Tuchel approached the game with an attacking formation of two strikers upfront. Mainz’s two main center forwards on the night were Sami Allagui and Morten Rasmussen. These two strikers were backed up by a midfield four of Polanski, Holtby and Soto along with Miroslav Karhan. At the back, Mainz deployed Bo Svensson, Nikolce Noveski, Radoslav Zabavnik and Christian Fuchs as their defenders.
For Stuttgart, Cacau led the line with Marica as his supporting partner. In midfield, Gentner, Kuzmanovic, Trasch and Gebhart played for the German league side while Degen, Molinaro, Boulahrouz and Georg Niedermeier performed their respective defensive duties. The referee for the match was Manuel Gräfe from Germany.
FSV Mainz started quickly and asserted their influence on the match with hastiness as they were the home side for the league encounter between the two German sides. Stuttgart were given a golden opportunity to give themselves the lead in the 19th minute of the match as they were given a penalty which their star striker, Cacau failed to convert into a goal. In the 26th minute of the first half of the match, Sami Allagui gave Mainz the lead after finishing off a Lewis Holtby pass. The first booking of the match came in the 20th minute as Radoslav Zabavnik went into the referee’s book for a late tackle. Christian Fuchs soon followed his team mate into the referee’s book as in the 38th minute of the match; the Uruguayan defender was shown a yellow card by the German referee. As the teams went into the locker rooms after the first half of the match, Stuttgart were struggling to come to terms with Mainz’s movement and possession of the ball.
VFB’s impotence showed again as two minutes after the kick-off of the second half, Mainz doubled their lead with Morten Rasmussen’s header from a Bo Svensson cross from the wing. Timo Gebhart became the first player from Stuttgart to go into the referee’s book in the 57th minute of the match. In the 70th minute of the second half, Christian Wetklo was also shown a yellow card by the referee. At the end of the match, Stuttgart’s manager Christian Gross looked disappointed as he must’ve expected a better performance from his team, who lost to FSV Mainz by two goals to one on the night.
http://www.sportvox.fr/IMG/Bundesliga-Logo.jpg
Tags: