Returning to the ground at which he made his mark as a coach, Jurgen Klopp and Borussia Dortmund came in seeking the three points that would put them on top of the Bundesliga table following Bayern Munich's draw against Hamburger SV. Instead, they fell 2-0 to Mainz, thanks to a disastrous second-half spell.
Mainz vs. Borussia Dortmund: Final score 2-0, BVB suffer disastrous 10-minute spell
Mainz are up to second in the Bundesliga after pulling off an impressive victory over a Borussia Dortmund squad that had designs on the league lead entering the day.
Matthias Hangst
Dortmund were ambitious early, asserting dominance and class with lightning-fast switches and dynamic wing play. Just three minutes into the match, Łukasz Piszczek unleashed a powerful first-time shot that sailed just outside the near post on the right side.
In the eighth minute, a long ball from Mainz saw the always dangerous Shinji Okazaki chase it down and get to the goal side of Matthias Ginter. The German international had no choice but to haul Okazaki down just on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick saw Johannes Geis tear up a huge section of the grass, skying his free kick into the stratosphere in a comical piece of play.
As the game moved forward, Mainz's 4-3-3 formation was unable to contain Borussia Dortmund in possession as Shinji Kagawa proved a dynamic force in the center of the park, moving forward with confidence and exploiting the narrow three-man midfield of Mainz. In the 13th minute, a BVB counter saw Kagawa streaming through the middle of the park before he set the ball on a platter for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to cross perfectly to the head of a wide-open (because he was offside) Adrián Ramos, who flubbed his effort well wide of goal.
On the opposite side of things, BVB pressed but were unable to stop a Mainz side that moved the ball extremely well in possession and created spaces in the Dortmund defense for Jonas Hofmann and Christoph Moritz to work their magic.
In the 35th minutes, a Mainz throw-in pinged off a Dortmund player before falling to Okazaki, who attempted to first-touch the ball past Roman Weidenfeller with the outside of his left boot. However, the experienced goalkeeper got low, making an impressive save to deny Mainz the lead.
The next two minutes were the Weidenfeller show. He first flubbed an easy clearance to give away a corner, before making an awkward punch, only to finish off the sequence with a brilliant diving save on a knuckling, dipping shot by Hofmann.
Despite a long sustained spell of pressure from Dortmund to end the first half, the Mainz backline held steady against the Dortmund attack to send the game into halftime scoreless. A 9-6 shots ratio in favor of Borussia Dortmund at the half told the whole story.
Both sides came out in the second half with no changes, and played relative sloppy football. The two squads ran around midfield, giving each other the ball during several frenetic sequences.
As the second half wore on, Mainz were content to drop their defensive line deeper, restricting the open space that Dortmund exploited in the first half, and hitting on the counterattack rather than pressing aggressively. To his credit, Klopp recognized the importance of bringing in more technical possession-based players, withdrawing Kagawa and Ramos in favor of Ciro Immobile and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
However, it all went sideways for BVB, as a long kick from Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius saw the substitute Jairo Samperio hold up the ball before spinning and crossing. Okazaki split the Dortmund centerbacks in the box and finished the chance, giving Mainz a 1-0 lead in the 66th minute.
Just minutes later, a Dortmund corner fell to Immobile, who took a deft touch and unleashed a volley into traffic that struck the outstretched arm of Okazaki, leading the referee to point to the spot. Immobile stepped to the penalty spot and slotted the ball to Karius’s right. Unfortunately for Dortmund, Karius read it all the way and saved the penalty to preserve Mainz’s lead.
In the 73rd minute, the Dortmund defense fell apart again. Jairo tried to dish the ball across the box towards Hofmann, only to see Ginter direct the ball into his own net. The own-goal capped a disastrous spell for Borussia Dortmund annd put Mainz up 2-0.
Despite their attempts as the match wound down, Dortmund were unable to break down the Mainz door, though they hit the post with a bizarre half-tackle-half-shot-half-cross in stoppage time.
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller, Durm, Ginter, Sokratis, Piszczek, Bender (Marouka 79’), Jojic, Kagawa (Mkhitaryan 64’), Großkreutz, Aubameyang, Ramos (Immobile 64’)
FSV Mainz 05: Karius, Brosinski, Bungert, Bell, Junior Diaz, Geis, Baumgartlinger, Allagui (Jairo 59’), Moritz, Hofmann, Okazaki
Goals: Okazaki (66’), Ginter (OG 74’)
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