Marco Reus apologises after missing penalty in Borussia Dortmund’s draw against Mainz

Borussia Dortmund were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw against bottom club Mainz 05 on Saturday and Marco Reus apologised to the team post match.

Although Borussia Dortmund dominated possession and created a number of chances, they failed to collect all three points at home against Mainz on Saturday. They were left to rue their wasted chances and weren’t able to capitalise on Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig dropping points. It was all Dortmund in the first 45 minutes, and only because of Robin Zentner’s heroics were they held off the scoresheet. Mainz regrouped after the break as they started to grow into the game and Dortmund took their foot off the gas pedal a bit.

Levin Öztunali scored a wondergoal in the 57th minute against the run of play from long range which really took the sting out of Dortmund’s game.

Borussia Dortmund were chasing the game from there and were finally able to pull it back level. Thomas Meunier scored a goal and drew a penalty in quick succession. But Marco Reus wasn’t able to score from the spot and Dortmund could only manage a 1-1 draw. Ruhr Nachrichten had the quotes from the game.

"“I have to apologise to the team,” Marco Reus said after the game. “In the first half I had a huge chance to make it 1-0 and then in the second half with the penalty kick. I could have decided the game. I wasn’t able to do that today, I’m very sorry to the team.”“In the second half, we didn’t play as structured going forward, often didn’t hold our positions and played a bit wildly by our standards. We obviously want to keep climbing up and we missed today to take another step forward.”"

The Borussia Dortmund captain took full ownership for his missed chances and was as disappointed as the fans watching. Goalscorer Thomas Meunier also voiced his disappointment after the game with the chance missed to go third in the table.

"“We had so many chances; it’s unbelievable that we only scored one goal. There were so many positive things on display. We panicked slightly in defence when Mainz counter-attacked us. We need to be more patient and better organized, but it wasn’t a bad game from us. We are disappointed, of course.”“We should have won the game. My first goal for BVB obviously doesn’t leave me feeling satisfied. After the defeat of Leverkusen, this game was a great opportunity to get back in the top three.”"

It wasn’t just the players who were left disappointed, head coach Edin Terzic was also frustrated with the dropped points.

"“Of course, we are not satisfied with the result. The chances were there to win the game. We also have to compliment Mainz. After Öztunali’s super goal, we regained our composure a bit, but the start of the second half was certainly not satisfactory because we played too frantically and too chaotically.”“The missed penalty is absolutely annoying. Marco Reus knows it himself. It was a great chance to take the lead. But that’s part of the sport, of course. No blame on him.”"

Borussia Dortmund must pick themselves up quickly with their next game coming up away to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.