Shock loss has Dortmund looking over its shoulder
Borussia Dortmund's grip on second in the Bundesliga has loosened slightly after it suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at home to struggling Mainz, which took a huge step towards safety.
Dortmund had seen Bayern Munich clinch an eighth successive Bundesliga crown a day earlier, and perhaps the disappointment combined with the realisation of itds title hopes being over was to blame for a lacklustre performance at Signal Iduna Park.
For all of its monopolisation of the ball, Dortmund struggled to supply Erling Haaland with adequate service and Mainz took a shock lead into the break thanks to Jonathan Burkardt's header at the end of a slick counter.
Complacency was then the root of their issues just after half-time as Lukasz Piszczek conceded a penalty, and Jean-Philippe Mateta converted the resulting kick.
Lucien Favre's men made desperate attempts to get back on level terms, but they were given too much to do by a Mainz side which moves five points clear of the bottom three with two games left.
Dortmund was dominant for the majority of the first half, but clear-cut chances were difficult to craft against Mainz's packed defence – Axel Witsel and Raphael Guerreiro having efforts at presentable opportunities blocked.
The visitor then edged ahead against the run of play just past the half-hour mark, as Mateta fed Bote Baku on the right-flank and his first-time cross was expertly headed in by Burkardt to round off a clinical move.
That lead was almost wiped out just three minutes later, but Emre Can's header from a Dortmund corner was tame and straight at Florian Muller in the Mainz goal.
Mainz elevated its game to another level at the start of the second half.
The lively Mateta saw a ferocious effort parried by Roman Burki, who then also blocked a long-range effort courtesy of Karim Onisiwo, but the rebound fell to Danny Latza and the switched-off Piszczek tripped the midfielder to concede a penalty.
After Mateta coolly swept home his spot-kick, Mainz unsurprisingly sat back again, inviting Dortmund on to them.
But BVB fared no better than before, its best chances coming from distance, as Achraf Hakimi drew a couple of necessary saves from Muller.
