Mainz hand over bottom spot to Heidenheim with first home win

Mainz finally won a home game in the Bundesliga for the first time since February 2025 as they beat Heidenheim 2-1 in a classic six-pointer. The result saw the guests thrown into the basement while Mainz temporarily sit in the 16th place before St. Pauli's game in Wolfsburg.

Both teams squandered leads in the Bundesliga’s return on Saturday. Mainz were held to a draw away at Union Berlin after conceding two goals in the last fifteen minutes. Heidenheim also led Köln twice in a 2-2 draw to start the new year.

It was a rather quiet start for both sides on this one. Diant Ramaj’s only save in the first half-hour was from Nikolas Veratschnig’s shot from 30 meters out. In contrast, Daniel Batz had to deny Benedikt Gimber from close range.

With no creativity on display at either end, a goalkeeping mistake was needed for the game’s first goal. Ramaj’s poor clearance landed at Lee Jae-Sung’s feet, and the South Korean found Silvan Widmer with a delightful chip. Mainz’s captain finished it off with a brilliant one-touch finish for his third goal of the season in all competitions.

Urs Fischer, who drew each of his first three games as Mainz’s coach, had to make a first-half change. Veratschnig’s injury meant an early introduction for Kacper Potulski, who has scored against Bayern in only his second Bundesliga appearance.

Before Dominik Kohr received a customary yellow card, he created a great chance for Phillip Tietz, but his header from the goalmouth slightly missed the target. The striker’s only goal of the season came in Heidenheim when he was still at Augsburg, and he had another stellar performance here against Frank Schmidt’s team.

The hosts were even more direct after the restart as they created multiple chances inside the first ten minutes. As usual, Nadiem Amiri was at the heart of their attack, and he scored the second goal after a flawless one-two with Tietz in the 49th minute. It should’ve been three before the hour mark, but Ramaj made a superb save to deny Armindo Sieb before chances for the two goalscorers.

However, that did seem to cause a lapse in concentration in Mainz’s defensive setup.  Arijon Ibrahimovic was given licence to roam at the edge of the penalty box, and Stefan Schimmer scored from the rebound after Batz’s save from the Bayern loanee.

It was the fifth goal of the season off the bench for Heidenheim’s supersub Schimmer, who was only on the pitch for seconds before the ball landed at his feet with the unguarded net at his mercy.

The goal clearly changed the momentum of the game with Ibrahimovic and half-time substitute Sirlord Conteh causing plenty of threats on either flank. The former had the best chance to equalize when his deflected effort ricocheted off the crossbar. There was no two-goal slipup from Mainz this time, though, as Fischer extended his unbeaten start to four games. 

More importantly, the hosts finally climbed out of the bottom place as they sit ahead of Heidenheim and St. Pauli, who have two games in hand. Both teams will be in action away from home during Saturday’s Konferenz games. Mainz will face newly-promoted Köln, while Wolfsburg entertain Heidenheim.