- Winner of the Match Mouse expresses: "I can now dispense spells now"
For Jannik Mause, the banter between him and his old teammates from FC Ingolstadt began weeks ago. Switching teams to 1. FC Kaiserslautern this season, the league's top scorer had an early reunion with his former teammates due to the DFB-Pokal draw in early June. In a 2-1 win over Ingolstadt, Mause, now playing for Kaiserslautern, scored a brace (3rd minute, 35th) in front of 11,665 spectators.
"I don't feel guilty, but it's a weird feeling to face them," Mause chuckled. "The draw brought out all the old teammates, and they were giving me a hard time. Before, I had to put up with their banter, now I get to return the favor."
Yellow-Red card against Gyamerah adds spice
The Red Devils, who lost to Bayer Leverkusen (0:1) in the DFB-Pokal final in May, had a strong first half and could have gone up 3-0 or 4-0. Unfortunate for them, Pascal Testroet missed a clear chance for Ingolstadt just seconds into the game. After that, the visitors took control and scored.
The yellow-red card given to Kaiserslautern's Jan Gyamerah (49th minute) shifted the game's momentum. The guests' defense held strong for a while, but Ryan Malone's late goal (88th minute) came too late. After the game, Mause had to answer numerous questions from his former teammates.
Mause is a goal-scoring machine
Ingolstadt's coach Sabrina Wittmann, who took charge of the Schanzers since the summer, had serious talks with Mause towards the end of last season because of his injuries. "We knew he knows how to find the back of the net," Wittmann said. Markus Anfang, Kaiserslautern's coach, also agreed. "He did well. He has a knack for scoring," Anfang said. "We had a fantasy that he would score for us, and he delivered a solid performance overall."
In his youth, Jannik Mause spent several formative years honing his skills in Bavarian football academies. Upon meeting some of his old teammates from Ingolstadt during the DFB-Pokal draw, he jokingly mentioned, "I used to join them for training sessions in Bavaria when we were young, now I get to challenge them as opponents."
During the post-match celebrations, Mause's former teammates from Ingolstadt, including a few who also hailed from Bavaria, couldn't help but praise his impressive goal-scoring form, remarking, "It's great to see you back in form, even though it's against us this time."
