Mainz took an enormous step towards securing their Bundesliga status for another season as a 0-2 score saw them beat Borussia Dortmund in the Signal Iduna Park.
The visitors played toward a precious 2-0 victory, which leaves them in need of only one point from their last two games to make sure they can stay in the top flight in 2020/21
In the early stages, Dortmund seized the ball, gaining up to 80 per cent of possession, but a well-drilled Mainz backline didn’t really bother them.
After being teed up by Raphael Guerreiro, Axel Witsel had a blocked effort, while after some neat interplay with fellow wing-back Achraf Hakimi the Portugal international also had a half-chance.
Pierre Kunde had the first sniff for the visitors but, after a clever ball from Danny Latza over the top, was let down by his touch inside the Dortmund area.
When Mateta released him, Burkardt should have done better – getting his legs in a tangle as he tried to sneak past Hakimi – but the 19-year-old made up for it just after half an hour. He angled a header past Roman Bürki from Ridle Baku’s inch-perfect cross to put Mainz ahead.
Meanwhile, Dortmund continued to look toothless in attack, despite their attacking trio of Jadon Sancho, Thorgan Hazard and Erling Haaland.
Before the break, Emre Can came closest to a BVB equaliser, but couldn’t get enough power from six yards out to head past Florian Müller.
At the beginning of the second half, things went from bad to worse for Dortmund as Mainz was awarded a penalty.
Karim Onisiwo unleashed a vicious long-range effort that Bürki could only parry, and Lukasz Piszczek tripped Latza inside the area as he sought to get to the rebound.
Seconds after pushing Bürki himself into a fine save, Mateta swept past the BVB keeper from the spot to firmly place the relegation-threatened 05ers in the driving seat. Shortly afterwards, Mateta found himself one-on-one with Mats Hummels but decided to go it alone instead of squaring for a teammate and the chance went begging.
In the final third, Dortmund continued to struggle, even though Brandt fired an effort just wide and Hakimi forced Müller to tip a well-struck free-kick over the bar.
Meanwhile, Jean-Paul Boetius missed a golden opportunity to put the game to Mainz’s bed, blazing over after another brilliant Baku cross, before replacement Adam Szalai drew a one-handed save from Bürki.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jonathan Burkardt’s goals thus secured Mainz’s victory.
Borussia Dortmund – Mainz (0:2):
Goals: 0-1 Burkardt (33′), 0-2 Mateta (pen. 49′)
Yellow Card: Piszcek 18’, Caricol 30’, Hummels 37’, Can 54’, Guerreriro 79’, Latza 79’, Hakimi 81’, Szalai 87’, Witsel 90’
Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek (c) (Schmelzer 54′), Can, Hummels – Hakimi, Brandt, Witsel, Guerreiro (Schulz 82′) – Sancho (Morey 77′), Haaland, Hazard
Mainz: Müller – Baku, St. Juste, Niakhate, Martin (Brosinski 84′) – Kunde (Barreiro 75′), Latza (c) – Burkardt (Öztunali 67′), Boetius, Onisiwo (Ji 84′) – Mateta (Szalai 75′)
