Match Report: Borussia Dortmund edge past Mainz in a tough encounter

League leaders Borussia Dortmund had to grind out a result against a very solid Mainz side at the Opel Arena. The game could have gone either way but The Black and Yellows ultimately came out on top.

It took a moment of magic from Lukasz Piszczek to hand Borussia Dortmund all three points in a thrilling 2-1 away win over Mainz. Lucien Favre’s side extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 7 points (with Gladbach yet to play) and a whopping 9 points over Bayern Munich.

The first 15 minutes belonged to Dortmund. We were able to see the team play their regular game which they had perfected thanks to Lucien Favre. Sancho was getting enough of the ball, the defence was looking absolutely solid, Witsel was executing his passes perfectly. But after the first 15 minutes, Mainz clawed their way back into the game and it just wasn’t the same Dortmund side for the rest of the game.

Mainz had kept Sancho quiet, they were getting in behind the Dortmund backline, and when they started pressing forward and forced Dortmund to make errors. Although Der BVB did dominate possession for most of the game, there was a lack of clear-cut chances. Zagadou had his headed effort saved by Mainz keeper Robin Zentner and then Reus followed up with a header just wide of the goal. Witsel also showed us the power he has in his left foot after his strike was tipped over the bar. It would soon become an open game and both teams were putting in a solid effort.

Roman Burki was also called into action after he had saved a chip from Jean-Phillip Mateta. The last 15 minutes of the first half Dortmund would have been happy to just see it through and let Favre work his magic in the second half. But the second half started very poorly for Dortmund as Mainz kept forcing Dortmund back into their own half and had plenty of chances to open the scoring.

But it was only a matter of time before super-sub Paco Alcacer came on in the 64th minute and scored with his second touch just 2 minutes later. An exquisite ball from Sancho found Reus who just needed to pass the ball to Alcacer who did the rest. But Dortmund’s lead was shortlived as Mainz equalised just 4 minutes later. Alexander Hack made a surging run forward and tried to lay the ball to Robin Quaison but a Witsel deflection made it even easier for him to slot the ball under Roman Burki and into the back of the net.

It was end to end stuff after that and either side could have scored the decisive goal. A great attack from Dortmund saw Sancho lay the ball to Lukasz Piszczek who had his first effort blocked by the defender but his second effort was a sublime curler that went win off the top of the crossbar in the 76th minute. It was the Polish international’s first goal in 40 games and it proved to be a very important one for Borussia Dortmund.

But the game wasn’t over there and Mainz made Dortmund really battle it out in the last 20 minutes or so for the win as they kept trying to get men in the Dortmund box and equalise. But the Black and Yellows ultimately came out on top by holding their nerve and keeping cool. The entire stadium erupted when they received the news that Bayern had conceded in the 93rd minute against Fortuna Dusseldorf for a 3-3 draw.

Plenty to improve on for Dortmund after this game but they’ll be happy to have secured all 3 points today. Their next game is at home against Freiburg and after that its the mother of all derbies against arch-rivals Schalke.