BORUSSIA Dortmund maintained pressure on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich with a comfortable 2-0 away victory over Mainz on Saturday.
Striker Karim Adeyemi was instrumental in the win, contributing to both goals as Dortmund secured their fourth victory of the season.
Niko Kovac’s side remain just two points behind Bayern, who had defeated Werder Bremen 4-0 the previous day.
“Karim did really well on the break,“ Kovac said of the Germany forward.
The manager highlighted the team’s attacking threat by adding, “We have two of the fastest players in the league with him and Maxi Beier, so we should be using that option.”
Dortmund preserved their unbeaten record this season ahead of their upcoming Champions League match against Athletic Bilbao.
Striker Serhou Guirassy is a doubt for the European fixture after being a late withdrawal from the Mainz game with a thigh issue.
“We hope Serhou will be available for Bilbao and we will try everything to make it happen,“ Kovac stated.
The manager emphasised caution by saying, “But we won’t take any risks because we know we are going to need him later on in the season.”
Adeyemi’s exceptional pace on the counter-attack proved decisive as Dortmund established a commanding lead before half-time.
The forward initiated the move for the opening goal, sprinting clear on the right moments after Mainz had struck the post.
Daniel Svensson completed the move by tapping in at the far post for the first goal.
Adeyemi continued to torment the Mainz defence and doubled the lead just fifteen minutes later.
He launched another rapid breakaway and finished clinically himself after a clever one-two with Julian Brandt.
The striker’s speed caused further problems in the second half when he sprinted thirty yards to challenge goalkeeper Robin Zentner for a loose ball.
Zentner arrived marginally late, clipping Adeyemi’s legs and receiving a straight red card for the professional foul.
Eintracht Frankfurt emerged victorious from a ten-goal thriller against Borussia Moenchengladbach with a 6-4 scoreline.
Robin Koch headed Frankfurt into an early lead after just eleven minutes before Ansgar Knauff added a second shortly afterwards.
Jonny Burkardt, Fares Chaibi and Can Uzun extended the lead with three more goals before half-time.
Koch scored again immediately after the break from another corner to make it 6-0.
“I am extremely upset and angry because none of us did our job today,“ said Gladbach midfielder Rocco Reitz.
The home side staged a remarkable second-half recovery with three late consolation goals.
Jens Castrop and Haris Tabakovic both scored with headers before Yannik Engelhardt added a third on 85 minutes.
Grant-Leon Ranos headed in during stoppage time but it only served to reduce the deficit.
“We probably did start thinking about the Atletico game subconsciously,“ admitted Frankfurt’s Knauff.
The winger explained, “We wanted to just focus on this game today, but once we went 6-0 up we started slipping a bit.”
Gladbach remain bottom of the table with just two points from five matches while Frankfurt climbed to fourth position.
Bayer Leverkusen secured a 2-1 away win at St Pauli with Edmond Tapsoba scoring the opener after twenty-five minutes.
Hauke Wahl equalised for St Pauli seven minutes later before Dutch talent Ernest Poku netted his first Bundesliga goal to secure the points for Leverkusen.
Wolfsburg’s poor home form continued with a 1-0 defeat to RB Leipzig. – AFP