Ryerson delivers as Dortmund keep title hopes alive | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund started the game knowing a win would put pressure on the league leaders Bayern, but the visitors created the first chance right from kickoff. Ji-Sung Lee, who has extended his contract at Mainz this week, nearly scored his fifth goal against Dortmund after a cheeky backheel assist from Phillip Tietz.

At the other end, Serhou Guirassy’s appeal for a penalty-kick was unsuccessful after a tussle inside the box with Stefan Posch. But the Guinean international did score his tenth goal of the season in the tenth minute with a brilliant header from Julian Ryerson’s free-kick delivery.

Five minutes later, it was two for the hosts as the Norwegian full-back puts it on the plate for the other striker. From an open play, Ryerson found Maximilian Beier as the German international netted his seventh of the campaign with an excellent header from a difficult angle.

Silas had a good chance to halve the deficit immediately, but the January signing failed to test Gregor Kobel from a promising position. The next big moment saw Guirassy looking for contact inside Mainz’s box once again. Urs Fischer’s side dealt a further blow with an injury to their record appearance maker Stefan Bell before the half-hour mark.

After Felix Nmecha’s shot deflected for another set-piece for Dortmund, Ryerson added a third assist to his name before the half-time break. Guirassy completed his brace with a close-range header from Ryerson’s corner-kick.

Aside from a clearly offside goal by captain Silvan Widmer, Mainz had few chances after conceding the second goal. Kovac handed a home debut for the 18-year-old Luca Reggiani as the Italian defender replaced the cautioned Niklas Süle at the start of the second half.

Daniel Batz kept the scoreline respectable by denying Nmecha and Beier, while Mainz failed to create anything of note on the other end. The relegation-threatened side had to wait until the 75th minute for their first chance after the break, but they did manage to reduce Dortmund’s chances after the hour mark. 

However, they did concede the fourth from yet another Ryerson delivery as his pinpoint corner-kick forced Dominik Kohr to beat his own goalkeeper. Ironically, Mainz's best chance of the game came from a corner as Kobel denied substitute Nelson Wieper in the closing stage.

Besides the comfortable scoreline against the team that won four of their last five games, there were plenty of positives for Niko Kovac’s side as they extended their winning streak to six matches before facing RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich. It’s also their sixth successive win at home in the Bundesliga.

Kovac’s side are also looking forward to the Champions League playoff tie against Atalanta in the upcoming two midweeks. As for Mainz, they will hope to resume their surge when they host Hamburger SV in yet another Friday night fixture next week.