Brandt inspired Dortmund inflict defeat on 10-man Mainz

Borussia Dortmund were dealt a blow in their pre-match preparations as Serhou Guirassy picked up an injury but Julian Brandt, who  started as a late addition from the get-go, inspired BVB to a 2-0 win. It was a cagey game that quickly burst to life when Paul Nebel struck the base of the post from an Armindo Sieb cross. 

Suddenly, BVB surged up the field with a swift counterattack which made it 1-0 to the visiting Westphalians. Maximilian Beier slipped it right to Julian Brandt whose first-time cross was steered home at the back post by Daniel Svensson on 27 minutes. 

Guirassy’s sudden absence certainly wasn’t noticeable as Dortmund doubled their lead before the break. A lightning quick break saw Couto feed the late call-up Brandt. The German played a double one-two with Karim Adeyemi who eventually curled past the rooted Robin Zentner. 

Mainz went in search of halving the deficit instantly after the break as Amiri’s freekick fell to Hanche-Olsen whose header was parried away by Gregor Kobel. Bo Henriksen eventually acted by introducing Stefan Bell and Arnaud Nordin for Leitsch and Lee. 

Dortmund seemed content to sit in and mind their two-goal lead and it wasn’t long before they held a personnel advantage too – Kobel’s long ball set Adeyemi free before he was wiped out by Zentner who was brandished with a red card. Back-up keeper Lasse Reis entered to fill the void. 

In typical Mainz fashion, they refused to lie down and Bell almost provided up the perfect response as he headed wide from an Amiri cross. It wasn’t long before Kovač introduced Jobe Bellingham and Pascal Groß to wrestle control of the midfield and guarantee a clean sheet victory on the road.