Bundesliga: FSV Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund - Match Report

After a decent international break, Borussia Dortmund kicks off the next part of their Bundesliga campaign with an away game against FSV Mainz 05.

Up until this point, Bayern continues to hold sway over the domestic league with 24 points from 8 games.

With a difference of 6 points, it doesn't look likely that Dortmund will ever catch up – but this is the Bundesliga – where Bayern have lost to Augsburg by 4 goals to nil.

With Schalke 04 and Hertha Berlin hot on their heels, standing at 16 and 14 points respectively, it's clear that Dortmund goes into this game feeling the pressure.

Speaking of the points table, it's awkward to see how badly Wolfsburg and the other Borussia club – Monchengladbach – are faring.

That said, Ingolstadt fans are having the time of their lives given the run that this new entrant to the Bundesliga is having this season.

Without a doubt, it was a strong performance from Borussia Dortmund even though their finishing (for the second goal) seemed a bit off. It took almost 60 minutes for them to score again. They clearly had a lion's share of the chances (and possession) throughout the game.

Anyways, the first goal came in the eighteenth minute with a sweet pass from Mkhitaryan on the right to Aubameyang who passed it to Reus on the left flank with plenty of time and space to score. 1 goal to nil to BvB.

Soon after, there was a penalty chance, thanks to Aubameyang being brought down in the Mainz's final third. Unfortunately, Reus missed the penalty while Mkhitaryan put the ball out on the rebound.

Having watched Borussia Dortmund's first game against Monchengladbach, this was hardly end-to-end stuff but involved a lot of short passing apart from a few long balls to both Reus and Aubameyang during the course of the game.

For the first half, Dortmund definitely had most of the possession while Mainz had no choice but to play defensively. There were a couple of chances where they could have gone on the break but they don't seem to be a side that plays counterattacking football - at least, not today.

Speaking of which, there were two occasions during which both Gundogan and Burki pushed Dortmund on the break with long balls to both Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan.

By the 70th minute, Mainz caught up with Dortmund in terms of possession but made no moves unlike the latter.

There were a number of chances missed by Aubameyang to make it 2 goals to nil. However, it was not until the 82 minute that he got his second assist of the day when he passed the ball to Mkhitaryan who deftly went past the keeper's right to score.

Both Sokratis and Hummels got into arguments with the referee over decisions while Mkhitaryan got a yellow card in the first half. That rarely ever happens and was pretty hilarious!

With no goals against, it's a clean sheet for an away game. Good result! Yet the best takeaway from the game was the sublime passing that has been the mainstay of Dortmund this season. There was very little for the defense and Burki to do. Mainz didn't press very well and the game slowly slipped out of their hands.

Frankly, with the way Dortmund is playing this season, it looks like they will get that Champions League spot. Also, they remain in second place after this win with 20 points from 9 games.

Reus continues to score well against Mainz while Thomas Tuchel must have felt a number of emotions given that he was Mainz's coach for almost 5 years - their best ever, as the commentators put it.

Borussia Dortmund's next game is at home, the Signal Iduna Park, against Augsburg on October 27, 2015.

- Plenty of sweet short passing and a couple of well-timed long balls

- Mainz barely pressed but played defensively for the most part

- First BvB goal: Reus in the 18'

- Second BvB goal: Mkhitaryan in the 82'

- Full-time score: FSV Mainz 05 0-2 BvB

Given this win with a clean sheet, what remains to be seen is how Bayern fare tomorrow against Werder while Schalke 04 (placed third) and Hertha Berlin (placed fourth) square off at the Veltins-Arena.

If you ask me, I'm going with a Bayern (obvious!) and Schalke win tomorrow. The first game is going to be an easy one given that Werder are placed fourteenth in the table while the second might just turn out to be a hard-fought one.

So, what do you think are Borussia Dortmund's chances of winning the 2015/16 Bundesliga season? Why? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.