Onisiwo hat-trick as Mainz beat Bochum

Mainz 5-2 Bochum
Goals: 1-0 Lee 1’ (assist: Caci), 2-0 Widmer 18’, 3-0 Onisiwo 28’, 4-0 Onisiwo 57’ (assist: Barreiro), 4-1 Kunde 70’ (assist: Losilla), 4-2 Masovic 72’, 5-2 Oniwiso 87' (assist: Barkok)

Mainz had scored early and with their first effort during the week against Borussia Dortmund, but they were even quicker out of the blocks here. Onisiwo outmuscled and outpaced Keven Schlotterbeck down the right and crossed. The ball came out to Anthony Caci, whose flashed effort back across goal was flicked in by Jae-sung Lee with fewer than 60 seconds on the clock. The 05ers had failed to hold on against Dortmund on Wednesday, but this time doubled their lead on 18 minutes when Onisiwo again raced away, this time up the left. The chance looked to have gone as he stumbled in the box, but captain Silvan Widmer was there to turn home the loose ball. The excellent Onisiwo then got a goal himself as he latched onto a stray defensive pass and deftly dinked the ball over Manuel Riemann from a narrow angle. Despite seeing more of the ball, the closest Bochum came was an effort over the bar from ex-Mainz midfielder Pierre Kunde.

Thomas Letsch made a rare quadruple substitution at half-time as Bochum sought to emulate RB Leipzig’s Matchday 11 exploit of coming from 3-0 down to get a point against Augsburg. However, Mainz went on to grab a fourth as Onisiwo continued his super Saturday with a second. Again, a turnover from the 05ers, this time Leandro Barreiro with the through-ball for the Austrian to run on to and finish past Riemann. The visitors did get one back through Kunde, at his former home, when he finished off Bochum’s quickest and most direct attack of the game. And just two minutes later they had another, as Kunde’s whipped corner to the near post was eventually bundled in by substitute Erhan Masovic. Onisiwo put an end to any sniff of a comeback when he hammered in his third with a few minutes to go, as Mainz broke a six-match winless run - their longest under Bo Svensson.

• Onisiwo has scored a brace and hat-trick against Bochum this season, accounting for five of his team-leading seven strikes. He also ended a six-game drought.
• Lee’s goal was the third scored inside the first minute of a Bundesliga game this season. He got one in the second minute against Dortmund during the week.
• The South Korean has four goals in 18 appearances this season, having got the same amount in his first 27 career Bundesliga games.
• Mainz’s fourth goal was the 100th scored under Svensson in the Bundesliga.
• Kunde netted his first goal for Bochum. His first four in the Bundesliga came for Mainz, most recently in June 2020 against Eintracht Frankfurt.
• Bochum overtook Schalke (who play on Sunday) as the division’s leakiest defence with 44 goals conceded.

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Mainz: Dahmen – Fernandes, Bell (Leitsch 68’), Hanche-Olsen – Widmer (c) (Da Costa 69’), Barreiro (Stach 61’), Kohr, Caci – Lee (Barkok 61’) – Onisiwo, Ajorque
Unused subs: Rieß, Martin, Fulgini, Ingvartsen, Hack
Out: Burgzorg (ankle), Burkardt (knee), Mustapha (operation), Zentner (back)
Coach: Bo Svensson

Bochum: Riemann - Janko (Masovic 46’), Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Soares (Stafylidis 46’) - Losilla (c), Kunde (Förster 73’) - Zoller, Stöger (Asano 46’), Holtmann (Antwi-Adjei 46’) - Hofmann
Unused subs: Johansson, Osterhage, Lampropoulos, Broschinski
Out: Esser (muscular), Gamboa (knee), Grave (shoulder)
Coach: Thomas Letsch