Mainz 05 crushed Krishov 9-0 in the Round of 64 of the German Cup on Saturday afternoon at Sportpark Krishov. The visitors opened their campaign with a scoreline that left the hosts searching for something, anything, to hold onto. And here's the thing — you don't need to watch ninety minutes to see this was over before the interval.
P. Tietz buried three goals inside the first half, slotting home at 19, 26 and 32 minutes to put the visitors ahead 3-0. N. Amiri added a fourth at 39 before S. Becker made it 4-0 on the stroke of half-time. By then the game had been decided in every sense that matters.
The second half brought no reprieve. Amiri struck again at 48 to complete his brace, and Tietz found a fifth at 57. R. Konigsdorffer and W. Boving rounded off the tally at 73 and 88, turning what could have been a comfortable win into a statement.
S. Becker received a yellow card at 24 for a challenge that didn't prevent the goals that followed. Mainz made several changes as the afternoon wore on, bringing on Lee Jae-Sung, D. da Costa, A. Hebler, A. Bittroff, A. Caci, P. Tietz, T. Michalski and P. Pahlow. The substitutions told their own story — this was never in doubt.
The statistics paint a picture of total dominance. Mainz held 71 per cent possession and registered 93 attacks compared to 61. They took 12 shots on target to just 2, with expected goals of 3.79 against 0.83. The hosts managed only one big chance all afternoon.
Such a scoreline rarely means anything beyond the day itself. Nine goals against a side that created one big chance in 90 minutes is a result that speaks of preparation meeting opportunity. Mainz will take confidence from this, Krishov will need to reflect.
