Burkardt brace the difference as Mainz oust Hoffenheim

Sunday’s action in the Bundesrepublik got underway with the meeting of Mainz and TSG Hoffenheim. In the end, a first-half brace from Jonathan Burkardt sealed a 2-0 win for the hosts.

Mainz marched to victory this afternoon in the Mewa Arena as Jonathan Burkardt inspired the hosts to a comfortable victory over TSG Hoffenheim in frosty conditions. Christian Ilzer’s men failed to put up a fight in truth as the visitors couldn’t live with the intensity brought by Mainz who secured all three points to rise into seventh place in the Bundesliga standings.

Bo Henriksen’s men set the tone inside four minutes when Burkardt opened the scoring. Kohr found the half space to feed Jae-Sung Lee who crossed low into the German striker’s path. Bruun Larsen ought to have equalised however Dane couldn’t hit the target. Mainz doubled their lead in the 24th-minute with a goal worthy of several replays – Mwene found Burkart with a throw-in which he hooked wide to Caci. The Frenchman’s first time pass found Burkart again who rifled it past Baumann off the underside of the bar.

After the break, Christian Ilzer made an alteration on the right as Pavel Kadeřábek, who struggled to contain Mwene all afternoon, was replaced by Valentin Gendrey. The Czechia international could feel slightly hard done by given he made a crucial block before half-time to keep it at 2-0. Mainz continued where they left off as Nadiem Amiri stung the palms of Oliver Baumann. Further changes for the visitors from Sinsheim came with Jurasek and Moerstedt featuring.

With a comfortable lead carrying them towards the finishing line, Mainz continued to hunt a third goal as Mwene went down in the penalty box. The arbiter in charge Daniel Siebert saw no issue with Gendrey’s firm challenge. It took until the 86th-minute for Hoffenheim to truly test Zentner. Stanley Nsoki connected with a corner delivery but the towering German shot-stopper sprawled to his left and clawed it around the post to keep the clean sheet intact.