Mainz 05 produced a dominant display on Sunday, cruising to a 5-0 victory over struggling Hamburger SV in their Bundesliga encounter at the Volksparkstadion.
The visitors came into the match determined to avoid a repeat of last season’s 4-0 defeat in Hamburg and quickly showed their intent.
Sheraldo Becker opened the scoring in the 19th minute after Kaishu Sano capitalised on a poor pass from Nicolai Remberg.
Sano won possession before Becker finished the resulting move to give Mainz the advantage.
Mainz doubled their lead four minutes before half-time. Becker created the opportunity with a well-weighted pass to Phillipp Mwene, who calmly converted at the far post.
Hamburg introduced Fabio Vieira for the second half, hoping the former Arsenal midfielder could help spark a comeback.
However, Mainz quickly extinguished those hopes.
Just four minutes after the restart, Becker turned provider again, sending a dangerous cross into the area for Phillipp Tietz to convert and make it 3-0.
Tietz completed his brace seven minutes from full-time, adding further misery to the hosts.
Mainz then put the result beyond doubt when Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer scored against his former club after moving from Hamburg to Mainz during the summer.
Hamburg struggled to create opportunities throughout the contest, with Vieira registering their only shot on target. His effort was comfortably saved by Mainz goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow.
The emphatic win lifted Mainz to fourth place with four points, while Hamburg remain bottom without a point or a goal after their opening matches.
The result also extended Hamburg’s difficult start to life in the Bundesliga, with Mainz taking full advantage of their defensive shortcomings.
