Beier brace keeps Dortmund's Europe hopes alive
Maximilian Beier's brace eased Borussia Dortmund to a 3-1 win over Mainz, keeping its hopes of finishing in the Champions League positions alive this season.
The result lifted Dortmund up to 10th, but Nico Kovac's side remains seven points adrift of the qualifying places for Europe's elite competition.
Dortmund had dominated the opening exchanges without reward, as Nico Schlotterbeck, Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt fired the early warning shots for the host.
Dortmund got the goals its performance merited in three first-half minutes just before the break, the first seeing Beier score after Adeyemi's square ball in the box.
BVB doubled its lead soon after when Schlotterbeck's corner was met by the head of Emre Can, despite the best efforts of a Mainz defender on the line.
Schlotterbeck provided another teasing delivery for Dortmund's third of the game after the break, with Beier powering the ball past Robin Zentner to bring up his double.
Mainz did, however, find a late consolation through Paul Nebel, with the visiting midfielder picking out the bottom-left corner after a sustained spell of pressure.
Dortmund finished inside the top four of the Bundesliga table in just 3% of Opta's supercomputer simulations, and have an uphill task for their final seven games.
