By Nathalia Araújo, dpa
MAINZ/Germany: Giovanni Reyna scored in stoppage time to give Borussia Dortmund a 2-1 Bundesliga win at Mainz on Wednesday, while Union Berlin are now second in after a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen claimed a fifth consecutive triumph with a 2-0 win against Bochum.
Hosts Mainz were in front less than two minutes in as Jae-sung Lee headed in a corner from Edimilson Fernandes. But Dortmund levelled almost straight away after Julian Ryerson’s strike deflected on Fernandes and found the net.
The game then settled down, with Dortmund having the better chances of scoring when Youssoufa Moukoko and Niklas Süle went close and Karim Adeyemi came within inches away of giving the guests the lead in the 14th minute, but his effort went over the crossbar.
In the second half, Mainz became more dangerous in front of the goal after a round of substitutions, but failed to find a winner, with Anton Stach missing a golden chance in the 86th as his shot went a bit too wide.
Reyna, however, didn’t waste his opportunity and netted a corner flicked on by Sébastien Haller in the third minute of stoppage time.
“Last-minute wins are the most emotional,” Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt said. “We’re not going 2-0 or 3-0 in front and showing a few tricks; rather, we’re having to work hard and then getting our reward for that.”
Coach Edin Terzic added: “We are happy that we got off to such a good start in the new year. We know that a lot of work is still to come.”
Amos Pieper broke the deadlock for Bremen in the 14th minute, but his sloppy backpass to keeper Jiri Pavlenka ended up on Janik Haberer’s feet to level for Union in the 18th.
“That was a bit unnecessary,” Bremen coach Frank Baumann said.
The capital team had a goal ruled out shortly before the break but got the winner thanks to Kevin Behrens in the 46th. They now sit three points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who on Tuesday were held to a 1-1 draw with Cologne.
“It feels great,” Union midfielder Rani Khedira said.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, have continued their positive trend since coach Xabi Alonso took over in October.
Edmond Tapsoba broke the deadlock with a spot-kick after Moussa Diaby was brought down inside the box. Adam Hlozek sealed the win in the 56th after an assist from Florian Wirtz, who featured in the starting line-up for the first time since recovering from a cruciate ligament tear.
“Now it feels better to look at the table. We got five wins in a row, we have made up a bit for the disastrous first half of the season,” Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich told broadcasters Sky Sport.
Elsewhere, Randal Kolo Muani took the lead for Freiburg in the 42nd but Matthias Ginter found an equalizer for Frankfurt early in the second half to settle a 1-1 draw. Augsburg defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 thanks to a late goal scored by Mergim Berisha.
