Ten-man Dortmund slumps to another away defeat
Dortmund, which had a midweek confidence boost with a 1-0 home win over Sturm Graz in the UEFA Champions League, struggled against the hosts and were left with 10 men in the 27th minute when captain Can launched a reckless studs-up challenge on Lee Jae-Sung and received a straight red card.
However, Lee then brought down Serhou Guirassy in the box just four minutes later, with the striker restoring parity from 12 yards.
Dortmund could not hold on until half-time though, as its defence was again caught out when Jonathan Burkardt turned in a cutback in first-half stoppage-time.
After the break, Mainz picked up where it had left off, bagging a third goal through Paul Nebel, who coolly slid in from the edge of the six-yard box in the 54th minute.
Dortmund, which has lost four of its five away league matches this season and drawn the other, is on 16 points in seventh spot. Mainz is three points behind in 10th.