Dortmund versus Mainz

A rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund recorded their first set of back-to-back league wins since September as a powerful second half performance rolled over a spirited Mainz side on Friday.

Man-of-the-moment Marco Reus hit the post, scored one and created another in a 4-2 win which lifted BVB two places in the table to 14th.

In an explosive start to the game, Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller created chaos in a back line missing the ill Mats Hummels, after he failed to clear with a punch under a challenge from Shinji Okazaki.

The ball fell to Elkin Soto and the Colombian midfielder took one touch before looping a volley over the floundering Weidenfeller and Dortmund's last man Marcel Schmelzer, who missed with a despairing bicycle kick on the line.

Dortmund were stirred into a response. Reus hit the post two minutes later with an instinctive right-footed shot from eight yards, before Shinji Kagawa saw his follow-up saved smartly by Stefanos Kapino, who had scrambled across his goal line.

Mainz put under pressure

The Greek stopper was only in the Mainz team due to a suspension being served by Loris Karius, and he was given little time to settle by a rampant Dortmund front line.

Reus turned provider in the seventh minute, feeding a smart ball through to strike partner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose outside of the right foot shot was turned away by Kapino.

Despite the game's high tempo, referee Tobias Stieler was enjoying a quiet night until he waved away Dortmund claims for a penalty on the half-hour mark, when Aubameyang fell to the floor in a race to the through ball with Pierre Bengtsson. A minute later Reus blazed high over the bar from near the penalty spot after a cross from Kagawa.

Dortmund could not find the finish their build-up play deserved as Mainz took a 1-0 lead into the break.

Colorful second half

The second half started with colored smoke billowing across the pitch from flares lit by Carnival-celebrating Mainz supporters in the away end at Signal Iduna Park.

For the home fans in another 80,000-plus crowd, however, all too rarely this season has the “Yellow Wall” in the south stand been matched by a yellow wave on the pitch, but this time their team poured forward in search of an equalizer.

Within four minutes, they had it. From a Sahin corner, former Mainz player Neven Subotic appeared to lean all over Bengtsson as he strained to steer a header wide of Kapino.

Reus then scored a storyboard second for Dortmund on 54 minutes, latching onto a neat through ball from Kampl and rounding the ‘keeper to slot home.

The relief for home manager Jürgen Klopp was clear to see. Wearing a winter beany hat in place of his trademark cap on a cold night in Dortmund, he repeatedly punched the air in celebration.

Klopp's delight was short-lived, however, as Mainz restored parity two minutes later. Yunus Malli was fed the ball by Soto and he made no mistake, lifting a shot into the top right corner of Weidenfeller's goal from ten meters.

Reus pulls strings as Dortmund seal win

A see-saw game was tipped back into Dortmund's favor on 70 minutes when Reus rolled a delicious ball with the outside of his right boot into Aubameyang, who outpaced Bengtsson and stabbed a shot underneath Kapino. It was the Gabon striker's eighth league goal of the season.

In the 77th minute Sahin sealed all three points for Dortmund when seizing on a weak push by Kapino from a swerving Aubameyang free-kick, to fire into an unguarded net from close range.

Reus was withdrawn to a standing ovation on 83 minutes and replaced by Adrian Ramos, but the misfiring forward had little time to impress as Dortmund played out the game.

The home side climbed to level in the table with Mainz on the win as the mini-revival for Klopp's team continued.