Staff Reporter.
Erling Braut Haaland scored twice on his return from injury as Borussia Dortmund went top of the Bundesliga with victory over Mainz.
Jonathan Burkardt scored to narrow the deficit late on.
But Haaland settled the match with his second in added time.
The 21-year-old has now scored a remarkable 49 times in 49 league matches for Dortmund and 70 goals in 68 matches in all competitions.
“It is clear he had been missing in our team,” Dortmund captain Reus said. “It is important that he plays because he constantly keeps two or three players occupied.
“To score two goals on his comeback is top. That is why we signed him.”
The win was Dortmund’s ninth in succession at home and takes them two points clear of reigning champions Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile Ihlas Bebou scored a double to inspire Hoffenheim to a 5-0 home demolition of Cologne to lift them up to eighth in the Byndesliga standings on Friday.
The Togo winger struck both sides of the interval with Christoph Baumgartner, Dennis Geiger and Stefan Porsch also scoring to put Hoffenheim on 11 points from eight games, one behind seventh-placed Cologne.
Bebou put the hosts ahead on 31 minutes, going around keeper Timo Horn for a cool finish after being played through by Andrej Kramaric.
The Togolese winger doubled the advantage four minutes into the second half, finding the back of the net with a backheel from Kevin Akpoguma’s cross.
Christoph Baumgartner put the hammer down two minutes later from close range after collecting a David Raum cutback before Geiger and Porsch completed the rout in the last 15 minutes.
Leaders Bayern Munich, on 16 points from seven games, travel to second-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.