Mainz 05 0-5 RB Leipzig
Beware a dangerous predator!
It’s been said so many times that a team or individual is at his most lethal when he has a point to prove and that was the case again at Opel Park.
Indeed, it took Timo Werner just 11 minutes to prove it, ending his eight-game goalless run and setting RB Leipzig on their way to a win which takes them back into third place in the Bundesliga.
Such was their first-half dominance, the only surprise was that Julian Nagelsmann’s side only scored three times against mediocre Mainz!
Highlights of the game
Both sides craved victory for different reasons.
Leipzig to hold onto a Champions League berth, not to mention maintain their outside hopes of a title challenge; Mainz – who began the day in 15th spot, 11 places and 24 points worse off than their visitors – for some daylight from the bottom clubs, even if they battled back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with fellow Carneval club Cologne last Sunday and had gone three games without defeat for the first time under Achim Beierlorzer.
They were also out for revenge after suffering an 8-0 defeat to Leipzig earlier this season.
Meanwhile, Leipzig themselves had slipped to fifth following Kai Havertz’s five star show for Bayer Leverkusen 24 hours earlier.
They wasted no time in taking complete control as Werner clipped home a Konrad Laimer cross to net the opener.
One quickly became two as the often unsung Yussuf Poulsen claimed a goal on his milestone 250th appearance for the club, heading home at the back post 23 minutes in.
RB Leipzig celebrate after Yussuf Poulsen scored their second goal vs Mainz 05
Only slack finishing and the excellence of home goalkeeper Florian Muller prevented them from adding a third before Marcel Sabitzer did just that nine minutes before the interval – finishing off a move which involved more good work from Poulsen and a Christopher Nkunku effort cleared off the line.
The home side had so little of the ball it was always going to take more than the half-time introduction of Jean-Philippe Mateta to change the tide of this contest.
Sure enough, within seconds of the restart it was four as the impressive Kevin Kampl surged into the box and played a 1-2 with the Slovenian before the ball was squared for Werner to tap into an open goal.
Scintillating one-touch football and more Bundesliga highlights from a team which is unbeaten since January, and comprehensively knocked Tottenham out of the Champions League with wins in both legs.
It took until the 54th minute before the hosts mustered an effort on target, that from their 12-goal top scorer Quaison.
This must have been demoralising for the home side in an already virtually empty stadium, due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
In fact, to generate some atmosphere, Sky Sports Germany actually offered their subscribers the chance to watch the match ‘as it is’ or with crowd noise piped in!
Poulsen was denied his second by an offside flag, while two chances within a minute were both narrowly wide to prevent Werner from claiming a hat-trick but by then the result was not in doubt anyway.
In fact, the SBOBET Bundesliga betting odds on a comeback by Mainz with Asian Handicap betting stood at an unlikely 0.00 @ 4.84.
Of course, you can’t keep a good man down and Werner duly completed his treble five minutes later with a cheeky lob after Poulsen drove a quick free-kick through the home defence.
At a time when top European football is hard to find, it was quite an afternoon for Werner to remind potential suitors of his talent and score his second successive hat-trick against Mainz.
The aggregate score between the sides this season is Leipzig 13-0 Mainz.
How they will want to avoid meeting them again in a hurry.
Key statistics
In netting four this afternoon, Nagelsmann’s side have now scored their most goals in a single campaign (67) – four more than they managed last season and one more than their previous 66-goal return of 2016/17.
Werner now has 23 goals in the Bundesliga – a personal record for him in a single season. His 90th goal in 150 competitive games makes him the club’s outright top scorer.
Werner is the first player since 1998-99 (Ulf Kirsten v Mönchengladbach) to score two hat-tricks against the same opponent in the same season.
For Poulsen, who joined Leipzig in summer 2013 when they were in Germany’s third tier, this was also a club-record 250th competitive appearance for the Saxony-based outfit.
What’s next?
Mainz are back in action on Wednesday night (May 27) when they travel to Union Berlin.
Leipzig are home to Union Berlin just two hours earlier.
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