Bloodbath 2: Mainz 0–5 RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig took Mainz apart 5–0 on Sunday afternoon, and the scoreline doesn’t quite convey just how ugly it all was. On aggregate, Leipzig have now beaten Mainz 13–0 this season, and Timo Werner repeated his hat trick from November, beginning with the opening goal 11 minutes in when he side-footed Konrad Laimer’s cross through traffic and past Florian Müller and effectively ending Mainz day right then and there.
None of the fight Mainz showed last week to come back and draw 2–2 with Köln was anywhere to be seen when Yussuf Poulsen was left unmarked to get Leipzig’s second 12 minutes later. Poulsen’s movement is always smart, but to be allowed to drift into that much space inside the six-yard box is criminal from a Mainz team that is not guaranteed safety.
Leipzig’s furious press gave Marcel Sabitzer the opportunity for his 36th minute goal, but it was chaos in Mainz’s penalty area that ensured it. Sabitzer wins the ball just past the halfway line and surges forward before freeing Poulsen down the left. A scuffed clearance means his cross sticks to the feet of a flat on his back Aarón Martín which gives Christopher Nkunku a chance at point blank range. Müller makes an excellent save but the ball deflects out to Poulsen once more who squares the ball to Sabizer all on his own twelve yards out. The five Mainz defenders in the box couldn’t stop from opening his foot up and finessing the ball into the top right corner. His celebration looked like he briefly forgot there was no one in attendance when he turned and extended his arms towards a few thousand empty seats before fist and forearm bumping his teammates.
Whatever was said during halftime didn’t take, because on 46 minutes a Leipzig counterattack breaks down but the ball finds its way to Kevin Kampl about 20 yards out. He turns and starts dribbling back towards midfield, taking defender Jeremiah St. Juste with him. St. Juste is too tight, and Kampl easily spins past him and heads back to where he started. A quick one-two on the edge of the box with Nkunku lets him glide into the box and a simple pass to Werner is smashed in for his second of the day.
Werner sealed his hat trick in the 75th minute. A quickly taken free kick just inside Leipzig’s half by Poulsen is lobbed over a completely exhausted Mainz back line and Werner is first to it, showing his range of finishing by catching the ball off an awkward bounce and getting just enough on it to have send the ball trickling in to the far corner from the top of the 18 yard box. That makes 24 for Werner this season, only three behind Robert Lewandowski for the league lead.
It’s likely too late for Leipzig to make a title push. Bayern aren’t showing any rust after the restart, and 7 points adrift with 7 games to go is probably a bridge too far. Mainz will be relived not to be seeing Leipzig again this season, but more performances like this might mean they won’t be meeting them next season either.
