Highlights: Borussia Dortmund collect all three points from their away trip to Mainz 05

Borussia Dortmund bounced back from their 5-1 defeat to Bayer Munich

Second-placed Borussia Dortmund kept pace with league leaders Bayern Munich in the race for the Bundesliga title this season by stealing three valuable points from their away trip to Mainz 05. The men in black and yellow enjoyed a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The former Borussia Monchengladbach forward had not scored since August, but he would be relieved as he finally put an end to his Bundesliga goal drought. Reus found the back of the net in the first half and put his side ahead before the interval. He could have easily added another goal to his name, but he missed a glorious opportunity by failing to convert from the penalty spot at the Coface Arena.

The home side were denied an equalizer when Roman Burki made two wonderful saves from Yoshinori Muto’s efforts. Mainz were punished for their missed chances later on when Mkhitaryan put the result beyond doubt.

Dortmund’s speedy attacking trio – Reus, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan forced mistakes from Mainz throughout the game. On the other end of the pitch, the home side lacked creativity as they struggled to carve out any many meaningful openings despite some sustained pressure before the break. Dortmund keeper Burki got a fingertip to a Jairo Samperio free-kick which clipped the crossbar.

Many refereeing decisions on the night went against Mainz and the players were furious when the referee pointed to the spot after Bunger brought down Aubameyang just outside the area shortly after the half-time break. Mainz keeper Karius pulled off a smart save to his right from Reus’ effort.

In most parts of the second half, Dortmund began to drop deeper and looked to exploit Mainz on the break. It almost paid off when Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang came close with efforts from the edge of the box from quick counters.

Eventually, Dortmund were rewarded for their patience and for sticking to their game plan when all three of their attacking trio combined to secure the points in the 82nd minute. Mkhitaryan slotted home by calmly rounding keeper Karius.

Park-Joo ho fired straight at Karius from a tight angle on another break forward, but Dortmund saw out the victory in comfortable fashion.

With that victory, Dortmund cement second place in the Bundesliga as they are now just within four points of Bayern Munich ahead of the champions’ trip to Werder Bremen on Saturday.