PLAYER RATINGS | Mainz 0-2 Borussia Dortmund: BVB overcome difficult task | OneFootball

Niko Kovač’s Borussia Dortmund travelled to Mainz on Saturday afternoon, looking to build on their impressive start to the season and keep within a reasonable distance of Bayern Munich.

Die Schwarzgelben were set to continue with the front three of Maximilian Beier, Serhou Guirassy and Karim Adeyemi but were rocked during the warm-up when Guirassy pulled a muscle and had to withdraw from the line-up, with Julian Brandt replacing the Guinean.

After a drab opening 25 minutes, Mainz very nearly took the lead when Paul Nebel struck Gregor Kobel’s left hand post from six yards out. Dortmund raced down the other end and took advantage of Mainz’ poor shape, as Brandt then picked out Daniel Svensson with a pinpoint low cross for the Swede to poke home, capping off a superb counter-attack.

BVB doubled their advantage five minutes before half-time with another counter-attack. Adeyemi broke free from the Mainz defence and played a quick one-two with Brandt before calmly finishing past Robin Zentner into the bottom corner, scoring for the third game in a row.

Halfway through the second half, Kobel collected a Philipp Mwene cross and launched a brilliant through ball to Adeyemi, who broke clear but was brought down by Zentner as he attempted to round the goalkeeper — a clear red card offence.

Brandt was later denied a goal by a superb save from Lasse Riess, which would have capped off a strong performance from the German.

Mainz, however, did not give up and continued to push for a way back into the game until the final whistle.

A rough day at the office for Mainz as BVB made light work of die Nullfünfer. Dortmund’s strong defensive display and clinical finishing up front, even without the mercurial Guirassy, are bound to please Niko Kovač.

Up next for Mainz is a trip to Cyprus to face Omonoia Nicosia as they make their Conference League bow, before travelling to the Volksparkstadion next weekend. BVB host Athletic Club in the Champions League on Wednesday night before welcoming RB Leipzig in their next Bundesliga fixture.

Mainz 0-2 Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings

Mainz: Robin Zentner (5) – Danny da Costa (5), Andreas Hanche-Olsen (5), Maxim Leitsch (6) – Silvan Widmer (7), Kaishu Sano (6), Nadiem Amiri (6), Phillipp Mwene (6) – Paul Nebel (7), Armindo Sieb (5), Jae-Sung Lee (6)

Others: Stefan Bell (7), Arnaud Nordin (6), Lasse Riess (7), Lennard Maloney (-), Nelson Weiper (-)

Borussia Dortmund: Gregor Kobel (6) – Waldemar Anton (7), Nico Schlotterbeck (7), Ramy Bensebaini (7) – Yan Couto (6), Felix Nmecha (6), Marcel Sabitzer (7), Daniel Svensson (7) – Karim Adeyemi (7), Maximilian Beier (6), Julian Brandt (7)

Others: Carney Chukwuemeka (6), Julian Ryerson (6), Pascal Groß (-), Jobe Bellingham (-), Fabio Silva (-)

GGFN Player of the Match: Waldemar Anton (7)

A very defensively sound performance from Niko Kovač’s side resulted in a fourth consecutive Bundesliga clean sheet. The back three of Anton, the returning Nico Schlotterbeck, and Ramy Bensebaini are providing the solidity Kovač has been looking for — and will be crucial if BVB are to mount a push for the Bundesliga title this season.

GGFN | Harry Good