Mainz carried their first half performance into the second half and never appeared in too much trouble as they defeated Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga debut of the Coface Arena.
Mainz Defeats Bayer Leverkusen 2-0, Sami Allagui Is Fantastic
Sami Allagui was excellent keeping the Leverkusen defense on their back foot all match long. He scored the opener in the first half and nearly doubled his lead in the second half, but his touch let him down and the ball went over the line for a goalkick. A few solid, if not spectacular, saves by Leverkusen goalkeeper Fabian Giefer kept Allagui from adding one of two additional goals to his tally.
Mainz were rewarded for their play in the 86th minute when Leverkusen defender Ömer Toprak slid to block a cross and ended up putting the ball into his own net.
Giefer really settled down in the second and made a few excellent saves to keep his side in the match. He will rightly be criticized for his gaffe in the first half, but his strong second half performance will give supporter’s hope for the period of time until Rene Adler returns.
On the whole the Leverkusen performance, especially offensively, deserves to be looked at with criticism. In the second half they rarely ventured into the Mainz half of the field and threatened their goal. Mainz must be credited for a solid defensive performance by pressing Andre Schürrle and Renato Augusto not allowing them much room to operate. Augusto in particular was very quiet in this match. He really only came to attention when he received a yellow in the first a half and when he was substituted toward the end of the match for Stefan Kießling.
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