Mainz 05 3-1 Borussia Dortmund: 10-man Dortmund suffer 3-1 defeat at Mainz

Borussia Dortmund suffered a 3-1 defeat at Mainz 05 on Saturday, their fourth successive away defeat in the Bundesliga this season, dropping them to seventh place.

Dortmund, who gained confidence in midweek with a 1-0 home win over Sturm Graz, will now have to start over during the international break to try to turn their season around.

The setback put more pressure on coach Nuri Sahin, whose club is performing well in Europe but is unable to collect points away from home in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund, missing more than half a dozen key players due to injuries, battled against Mainz and were reduced to ten men in the 27th minute when captain Emre Can, under fire for his performances, launched a reckless studs-up challenge that resulted in a straight red card.

Things got even worse when Lee Jae-sung was completely unmarked and headed Mainz into a 36th-minute lead.

Five minutes later, the South Korean brought down Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy in the box, resulting in a penalty, which the Guinea international converted.

The Dortmund defence, however, was again caught out when Jonathan Burkardt turned in a cutback in first-half stoppage time.

After the break, Mainz picked up where they had left off, bagging a third goal through Paul Nebel from close range, his first ever league goal.

Dortmund, who have lost four of their five away games this season and drawn the other, were unable to claw back into the game, and the hosts squandered multiple opportunities to increase their lead.

The Ruhr Valley club is in seventh place with 16 points, with Mainz three points behind in ninth.

SportsLigue