Witsel winner sends Dortmund within four points of Bayern Munich

A late Axel Witsel strike was enough for Borussia Dortmund to pick up three much-needed points away to Mainz on Wednesday evening, putting them within four points of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

Witsel bagged the winner as late as the 87th minute in a game that Dortmund failed to really assert their dominance on, with Mainz standing firm for the majority and managing as many attempts as their visitors despite giving up most of the ball.

The game was relatively uneventful for the most part, with Dortmund enjoying 60 percent of the possession and struggling to give their hosts too much to worry about. In all, they managed 11 attempts at goal - the same number Mainz had - and only four of those were on target.

Mainz did well to limit their visitors on the night, and would have felt hard done by when Witsel struck with just three minutes of the 90 to play.

With a freekick having been awarded about 30 yards from goal and to the left of the area, Giovanni Reyna stepped up. Reyna delivered an in-swinging cross with his right foot that found its way over a crowded penalty area to Witsel, and the Belgian somewhat bundled his attempt past Mainz goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

Dortmund closed the gap to leaders Bayern again. There are now four points separating Germany's top two.