Hoffenheim lost for the first time, Hertha suffered defeat. It had all the hallmarks of a perfect weekend for Borussia Dortmund. "We could have moved up to third place," lamented Marcel Schmelzer. Instead the Black and Yellows were held to a 1-1 draw against a Mainz side that worked hard but hardly played them off the park.

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"I'm not disappointed, I'm angry," said the captain after seeing his side draw for the fourth time in five matches, before adding that a share of the spoils against the Bundesliga's tenth-placed team is "not what we aim for!"

The team replicated the flying start they made in the 2-1 win over Bremen in Mainz tonight, taking the lead with their first shot and creating two more top chances by the 11th minute: Aubameyang's header was cleared in the six-yard box (5) before Castro missed the right moment to play a pass and should perhaps have then gone for the shot himself from a centre-right position 13 metres out rather than trying to pick out one of the strikers (11).

"We had two major opportunities from switch-play to double our lead in the first period and all-but seal the win early on," analysed Thomas Tuchel. Instead he was forced to watch from the sidelines as his charges gradually lost their grip on the game, as the statistics demonstrated: BVB's tackle win rate decreased from 65% in the opening quarter of an hour to 47% of challenges won at full-time, while Mainz registered seven shots on goal compared to the visitors' three in the second period to finish the match on a ratio of 9:13 shots.

"In the second half we did not manage to keep the game in the opponent's half. In fact, it took place almost entirely in the air," said Tuchel. Both teams opted to hit long balls – in Borussia's case, because Weigl's role in building the play was being nullified by Mainz forwards Frei and Muto, whose defensive remit was to man-mark the youngster. Having made a strong start, BVB's only other chances came through Sokratis before the break and Schürrle on the hour mark.

"If you don't defend consistently until the end here in Mainz, then you will concede an equaliser like that," bemoaned Schmelzer in reference to the hosts' leveller seven minutes from time. Tuchel described his charges as having "not given away any chances until the equaliser" and, on the whole, as having "defended attentively and diligently". The coach continued: "We defended their counters very well too, which makes it extra annoying."

"We're not quite meeting expectations"

BVB now sit in fourth place with 31 points from 18 matches. They are one point behind third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt and level with Hoffenheim, with Berlin and Köln narrowly behind. "The table has become tight at the top," said Tuchel, adding: "We're not quite meeting expectations and feel we should have one or two points more, but we know that we are capable of getting those points back, even if we have a very difficult path ahead."

Saturday's big clash with Leipzig will give the Black and Yellows the chance to reduce the gap to the league's second-placed side to two points.
Boris Rupert