Maximilian Beier's brace eased Borussia Dortmund to a 3-1 win over Mainz on Sunday, keeping their hopes of finishing in the Champions League positions alive this term. 

The result lifted Dortmund up to 10th in the standings, but Nico Kovac's side still find themselves 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 hosts. 

They got the goals their 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 their 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. 

Data Debrief: Schlotterbeck unveils corner kick weapon

Having taken just six points from his first six Bundesliga games, Kovac was under pressure coming into this game, but was able to produce an impressive result which saw an unusual tactical switch take place in the game. 

Dortmund beat Mainz for the first time in the Bundesliga since 25th January 2023, ending a run of four games without a win, and they were worthy victors at the Westfalenstadion, ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.78 to their opponents' 0.81. 

The surprise moment in the match came when Schlotterbeck found himself on corner duties, and Dortmund will be wishing they had put the German international on them sooner after he helped set up two goals on Sunday. 

Indeed, Schlotterbeck is the only defender from Europe's big five leagues to have assisted two goals from a set piece in a league match this season.