It was not meant to be: Dynamo eliminated against Mainz

Dynamo Dresden's DFB Cup journey is already over after the first round this season. After two defeats in the league opener, the promoted second-division side were also beaten in the cup competition. Bundesliga side 1. FSV Mainz 05 came away with a 1:0 (1:0) victory on the Elbe. International Nadiem Amiri scored the only goal of the game from a free-kick after 22 minutes in front of 30,105 spectators.

Jakob Lemmer (66) missed a great chance to equalize when he fired a penalty straight into the arms of FSV goalkeeper Robin Zentner. Visiting coach Bo Henriksen was shown the red card after 86 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Dynamo lacked cleverness in converting chances

"We lacked the efficiency to progress. The manner was good, but unfortunately not the result," said Dynamo coach Thomas Stamm. "We have to shake off the negative thoughts, should they be there, on Sunday in Bielefeld. Something is also possible at Arminia, we've shown that in the past," emphasized the coach.

Vinko Sapina felt that the defeat should not have been necessary after the course of the game. "We had already expected something. It's always 50:50 in the cup and we threw everything into it," said the midfielder.

Dynamo have to do without attacking duo

Dynamo had to make do without goalkeeper Christoph Daferner, who had injured his hand, and Vincent Vermeij, who was expected to be in the starting line-up. The new signing from Fortuna Düsseldorf is suffering from a viral infection.

The opening phase belonged to the hosts, who aggressively disrupted the midfield and created two great chances in the first few minutes through Nils Fröling (3rd, 6th), who was the only striker on the pitch this time. There was nothing to see from the Bundesliga side offensively until the 20th minute, which is why the lead came as something of a surprise. Amiri's free-kick from around 22 meters went off the inside of the post and into the goal.

Score changes the balance of power

Only then did the 05ers do justice to their role as favourites, playing forward and putting the Dresden defence under pressure on several occasions. Paul Nebel found his master in the attentive Dynamo goalkeeper Tim Schreiber with two one-hundred percent chances (34th, 41st).

Dynamo now had more to do with their own defending and only rarely managed to launch well-constructed attacks. Only in stoppage time of the first half did opportunities arise. The most promising was missed by Dominik Kother, who failed to put any pressure behind the ball from eleven meters out.

Mainz plays cleverly and is lucky at the end

After the break, FSV took complete control of the game. There were chances, but they were not compelling. Instead, they conceded a handball in the penalty area after 65 minutes through Ben Bobzien, who had just come on as a substitute. However, Lemmer kicked the ball so weakly that Zentner had no trouble picking it up.

Mainz then managed the lead, largely keeping Dynamo away from their own penalty area and thus saving energy. The home side only had opportunities in the closing stages, with Lemmer (87) finding himself free in front of Zentner, but narrowly missing. That was as good as it got.