Borussia Dortmund crush Mainz 4-0 to trail Bayern by three points

Serhou Guirassy scored twice in the opening half, while Julian Ryerson provided four assists to guide Borussia Dortmund to a convincing 4-0 victory against Mainz at home on Friday, leaving them just three points adrift of Bundesliga frontrunners Bayern Munich.

The versatile wing-back Ryerson set up all four Dortmund goals from headers, featuring Guirassy's pair alongside strikes from Maximilian Beier and Ramy Bensebaini, marking the team's most substantial league triumph of the campaign.

Bayern, set to visit faltering Werder Bremen on Saturday, held an 11-point advantage over Dortmund during the Christmas period after delivering the finest first half of any Bundesliga season to date.

Dortmund's streak of six consecutive wins has eroded that gap significantly. The rivals will clash in Dortmund in a fortnight, a fixture laden with critical implications for the championship race.

Dortmund squandered the 2022-23 Bundesliga crown with a 2-2 draw at home to Mainz on the final day, yet manager Niko Kovac revealed on Wednesday that he steered clear of the subject throughout the week, stating to journalists "I don't want to speak of trauma."

Propped up at the bottom in December, Mainz have risen to 14th place under fresh manager Urs Fischer, suffering defeat in only one of their last nine league outings since the Swiss tactician took charge.

Guirassy opened the scoring for Dortmund after 10 minutes by nodding in a free kick from Ryerson.

Ryerson orchestrated the second goal shortly after, as Beier powered home a header from his delivery five minutes later.

Dortmund pushed further ahead right before half-time, with the Norwegian once more pivotal, curling a corner directly onto the head of Guirassy.

Having endured a dip in form with a single goal across 10 league matches around Christmas, the forward from Guinea has now netted five times in his most recent three appearances.

In the 83rd minute, Ryerson floated over yet another corner, which Bensebaini converted with a header amid a packed penalty area.

Although Dortmund have shown vulnerability in closing out games, conceding 10 points from leads in the dying stages this term, they maintained composure for a resounding success just four days before welcoming Atalanta in the Champions League last-16 stage.