Sunday, October 25, 2009

Battle of the bottom


Mainz easily beat Freiburg 3-0 in a battle of the Bundesliga's promoted sides.

Andreas Ivanschitz opened the scoring in the 24th minute, and captain Tim Hoogland struck twice in the 50th and 85th minutes to give Mainz the points.

Mainz have not lost at home this season but came into the game losers of three of their last four matches on the road. Thomas Tuchel's team are up to seventh, with Freiburg now 12th.

The opening goal came from the first chance of the match.

Chadli Amri fended off two defenders before looping the ball into the area, where Ivanschitz volleyed over goalkeeper Simon Pouplin.

Freiburg striker Mohamadou Idrissou saw Mainz goalkeeper Heinz Muller bat his shot over the bar nine minutes before the break.

The visitors almost equalised just seconds after the restart when Tommy Bechmann's looping ball over Muller rolled just wide.

Two minutes later, Ivanschitz cleared a corner off the line from Ivica Banovic.

At the other end, Ivanschitz then set up the second goal - sending a ball down the left side where Freiburg defender Du-Ri Cha challenged too early. Hoogland raced around the South Korean and beat Pouplin in the bottom corner.

Banovic's free-kick shot from the edge of the area went just inches wide right three minutes later, and Banovic missed another chance in the 66th as Muller saved a blast from nine yards.

The hosts made sure of the points when Florian Heller found Hoogland in the area, where he had plenty of space and time to score at the near post.

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