Ten-man Mainz dig deep to earn a point in Urs Fischer’s debut

Urs Fischer’s first match in charge ended in a 1-1 draw with Lech Poznań in the Conference League - a fixture full of drama. A contentious penalty cancelled out Sota Kawasaki’s opener, before Nikolas Veratschnig picked up a second yellow card after the break, setting up a nervy finale for Mainz.

The hosts dominated possession in the early stages, while Mainz settled into a familiar Fischer blueprint: disciplined, compact and difficult to break down. The first real chance for the visitors fell to Veratschnig, whose curling effort from distance forced Bartosz Mrozek into a smart stop. Lech then threatened through a dangerous Luis Palma cross that flashed through the box and almost crept in at Daniel Batz’s near post, the keeper reacting just in time to claw it away.

Mainz’s first goal of the Fischer era arrived just before the half-hour mark. Excellent work from Benedict Hollerbach down the left allowed him to cut inside and float a cross towards the back post, where Kawasaki ghosted in - completely unnoticed by the ball-watching Palma - to stab home for 1-0. The visitors thought they had doubled their lead four minutes later, but VAR intervened, ruling that Hollerbach had been offside before reacting to Nelson Weiper’s initial strike.

VAR would play a decisive role again in the 38th minute. With Lech piling on the pressure, a deflected effort caused chaos in the Mainz box, where hesitation from both Danny da Costa and Kawasaki allowed Palma to nip in. The winger then went down under contact from Kawasaki, though controversy lingered after replays appeared to show Palma handling the ball beforehand. After a lengthy check, the penalty stood. Mikael Ishak stepped up and coolly sent Batz the wrong way with a delicate Panenka to level the scores.

Mainz almost restored their lead deep into first-half stoppage time when Paul Nebel whipped a superb cross to the far post, where Veratschnig rose high and powered a header on target - only for Mrozek to deny him with a brilliant save. The whistle soon followed on an action-packed first half, the sides going in level at 1-1.

Fischer’s team came out strongly in the second half, with a series of teasing crosses causing real problems for the Lech defence. Veratschnig again got on the end of a Nebel delivery, this time flashing his header just wide. But his afternoon turned sour on 66 minutes when he hauled back Pablo Rodríguez, earning a second yellow card and leaving Mainz in serious difficulty.

From there it was one-way traffic. Mainz were forced to dig deep as wave after wave of Poznań pressure crashed over them. Rodríguez squandered a golden opportunity when clean through on goal, but Batz stayed big and made a crucial save. The hosts continued to probe, yet Batz stood firm time and again, preserving a precious point for Fischer in his debut outing.

In the end, it was a valuable draw for Mainz, who remain inside the top eight. They certainly rode their luck after going down to ten men, but the first half showed enough promise to take into Sunday’s daunting Bundesliga trip to table-topping Bayern.