Dortmund down Mainz 2-0 in German Bundesliga

BERLIN - Struggling Dortmund returned to winning ways after beating Mainz on two second-half goals at the opener of the 16th round of Bundesliga action on Tuesday.

As the first game of new head coach Peter Stoeger, Borussia Dortmund were able to snap their eight-game winless run as goals from Sokratis and Shinji Kagawa were enough to edge Mainz on the road.

Mainz grabbed a promising start going into the game as Suat Serdar came close with six minutes played after rattling the crossbar from 18 meters. The midfielder remained in the thick of things as he had another chance to open the scoring, but he pulled the assist from Emil Berggreen over the target at 13 minutes of play.

As the match progressed, Dortmund assumed control of the ball but were unable to produce clear-cut opportunities. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wasted Dortmund's best chance before the break as he missed the target from inside the box.

After the restart, the "BVB" increased the pressure and their efforts were eventually rewarded 55 minutes into the match as Mainz were unable to clear a free kick cross, allowing Sokratis to drill the ball past Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner.

Mainz remained dangerous and collected a number of chances but they lacked in accuracy to restore parity. Dortmund punished the host's wastefulness after Shinji Kagawa benefitted on a square pass from Aubameyang to seal all three points.

With the victory, Dortmund secured their first victory since October and jumped to 4th place for the moment, whereas Mainz slumped to 15th place after suffering their eighth loss of the season.

Elsewhere, runner-up Leipzig were held to a 1-1 draw by Wolfsburg. Paul Verhaegh broke the deadlock with a foul play penalty early into the game before Leipzig's Marcel Halstenberg levelled the scores after the restart. The Bulls had to complete the game with ten-men as Dayot Upamecano received his marching orders in the closing period.

Eintracht Frankfurt rallied back from one goal down as Marius Wolf and Mijat Gacinovic turned the tides against Hamburg, and Freiburg wrapped their second win in row after moving 1-0 past Monchengladbach owing to the converted penalty from Nils Petersen.

The following fixtures complete the 16th round on Wednesday: front runners Bayern Munich host last placed Cologne, third placed Schalke encounter Augsburg, Hoffenheim see newly promoted Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen face Werder Bremen and Hertha Berlin see newly promoted Hannover.