Dortmund seal UCL place with Mainz victory

Posted Sunday, April 20, 2014 by Foxsports.com

Borussia Dortmund secured their place in the Champions League next season thanks to a 4-2 win over Mainz at the Westfalenstadion.

Milos Jojic gave the hosts an early lead which was soon cancelled out by Shinji Okazaki. Robert Lewandowski then put Dortmund ahead once again, only for that too to be pegged back as Okazaki levelled for a second time.

Lukasz Piszczek added a third for Dortmund, however, and this time there was no way back for the visitors as a Marco Reus penalty completed the win after Niko Bungert had been shown a red card.

Coach Jurgen Klopp welcomed his former club to the Westfalenstadion, but he was clearly not in such a hospitable mood when the game got under way as the hosts took the lead after just six minutes.

Jojic's shot from just outside the penalty area appeared to strike Oliver Kirch on his hand, but the deflection was adjudged to be fair by the referee, in spite of Mainz's protests.

Mainz's frustration was channelled in the right direction, and they levelled in the 14th minute with a deflection this time benefiting them with Okazaki's shot striking Mats Hummels on its way past a wrong-footed Mitchell Langerak.

The visitors' joy was short-lived, though, with Lewandowski putting Dortmund back in front in the 18th minute.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan set up the Poland international, who took the ball around Loris Karius before scoring into the unguarded goal.

Karius got the better of Lewandowski in the duo's next duel as Mainz managed to hold onto just a one-goal deficit up to the interval.

Coach Thomas Tuchel then made two changes with Shawn Parker and Benedikt Saller sent on, but it did not change much with Dortmund remaining on top.

What did change the game was a mistake by Nuri Sahin, whose pass back to Langerak was intercepted by Okazaki, who skipped past the Australian goalkeeper and found the open goal for his and Mainz's second of the game.

Like in the first half, Mainz's goal served only to sting Dortmund back into action, and their lead was restored three minutes later when Reus' free-kick was headed in by Piszczek.

Mainz's hopes of recovering were dented 12 minutes from time when Bungert handled the ball inside the area, giving away a penalty and earning a red card.

Reus stepped up to the spot and beat Karius with a well-placed penalty which secured Dortmund's place in the Champions League next term.