Dortmund go top after win at rivals Mainz

Borussia Dortmund went back to the top of the Bundesliga on Sunday after a hard-earned 2-0 win at title-rivals Mainz with the winning goals coming from teenager Mario Goetze and striker Lukas Barrios.

Dark-horses Mainz were knocked from top spot after being downed by Jurgen Klopp’s young guns from Dortmund in a tense affair at Mainz’s Bruchwegstadion in front of a sell-out crowd of 20,300 and the hosts had a penalty saved.

The win gives Dortmund a one-point lead over second-placed Mainz after ten league matches. Hanover have the chance to go third in the table if they beat Hoffenheim on Sunday evening.

With the guests enjoying a few chances in the build up, Dortmund opened the scoring on 26 minutes when 18-year-old Goetze pounced on Mainz defender Niko Bungert’s mistake and fired home.

Mainz fought back hard in a bid to force the equaliser and were awarded a penalty by referee Michael Weiner on 47 minutes when Serbia defender Neven Subotic fouled Hungarian Adam Szalai in the penalty area.

But Mainz midfielder Eugen Polanski had his shot saved by Dortmund captain Roman Weidenfeller and Borrusia cleared the danger.

Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios scored his fifth league goal of the season when he fired home from a tight angle on 67 minutes and although Mainz fought hard to get back in the game, they struggled against Dortmund’s strong defence.

On Saturday, Werder Bremen and Schalke both warmed-up in poor fashion for crunch Champions League clashes on Tuesday as they were both beaten at home in the Bundesliga.

Werder Bremen are at home to Dutch side FC Twente in Group A, but they were beaten 3-2 at home by Nuremberg in the German league.

Likewise, Schalke are at Hapoel Tel Aviv in Group B, but they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Leverkusen – the Royal Blues’ sixth defeat in 10 games.

Eintracht Frankfurt went fourth after their 3-1 win at ten-man St Pauli.

Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko also netted twice in his side’s 2-0 win over Stuttgart while Hamburg were upset 3-2 at Cologne as Slovenian striker Milivoje Novakovic scored a hat-trick.

Kaiserslautern beat Moenchengladbach 3-0 while defending German champions Bayern Munich are seventh in the table after a 4-2 win over Freiburg on Friday.