Bayern win at Mainz to trim Dortmund’s lead

BERLIN: Bayern Munich cut Borussia Dortmund’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to just two points on Saturday with a 2-1 victory at Mainz, thanks to Thiago Alcantara’s winning goal.

While goals by Leon Goretzka and Thiago sealed the three points for Bayern, Dortmund only had themselves to blame for conceding a 91st-minute penalty which Salomon Kalou converted in their 2-2 draw at home to Hertha Berlin.

England youngster Jadon Sancho scored twice and could have finished with four goals in an outstanding display for Dortmund, only for Kalou to snatch a point by converting the late penalty after his first-half strike.

Dortmund’s next home league match -- against Bayern in a fortnight -- is shaping up to be a top-of-the-table clash.

Bayern have climbed from sixth to fourth and now to second over the last seven days, claiming three straight wins in the process, after ending a four-match winless streak.

“We certainly had to work hard for that and it certainly wasn’t as brilliant as we had hoped,” admitted Bayern head coach Niko Kovac.

“We’re happy to have won our three games in a row, I think victory here was deserved and we hope this run continues.”

It was all one-way traffic in the first half as Bayern dominated Mainz with Joshua Kimmich hitting the woodwork on 27 minutes and Thiago having an effort disallowed for offside.

But the Mainz defence yielded when Goretzka volleyed home six minutes before half-time.

Just as it looked like Bayern were going to pull away, Mainz equalised as a result of sloppy defending.

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was furious after Serge Gnabry failed to stop a cross by Daniel Brosinski and Jean-Paul Boetius stole a yard on Kimmich to tap home on 48 minutes.

But having earlier been denied, Thiago slid in to turn home Robert Lewandowski’s low cross with 28 minutes to go.