Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund needed a late equalizer to seal a 1-1 draw at 10-man Hamburg SV on Saturday to stay on course for their first league title since 2002 with five games remaining.
Dortmund fell behind when Hamburg striker Mladen Petric was fouled from behind by Germany defender Mats Hummels in the penalty area and ex-Real Madrid star Ruud van Nistelrooy fired home from the spot on 39 minutes.
Dortmund’s rising star Mario Goetze had a chance cleared with the ball almost over the line just before the halftime whistle and the 18-year-old then headed over the bar after the break.
Photo: AFP
Hamburg were reduced to 10 men when 22-year-old midfielder Aenis Ben-Hatira was sent off for a second yellow card late in the game.
With time almost up, Poland midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski — known as Kuba for short — latched onto the end of a towering pass from ex-Germany defender Patrick Owomoyela to fire home and give his side a valuable point.
Hanover 96 went third at the expense of defending champions Bayern Munich with a 2-0 win at home to Mainz.
Ivorian striker Didier Ya Konan put the hosts ahead with a penalty on the stroke of halftime, while Hanover midfield Sergio Pinto added a second after the break.
Bayern are fourth after they drew 1-1 at Nuremberg in the Bavarian derby, while Dutch winger Arjen Robben earned a red card in the 93rd minute for insulting the referee.
Germany midfielder Thomas Mueller put the guests ahead after just five minutes, but Nuremberg striker Christian Eigler equalized on the hour mark to share the points.
“It is not the first time this season we have given away a 1-0 lead as we did today,” said Bayern coach Louis van Gaal, who is being replaced by Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes at the end of the season. “We brought their goal on ourselves, which is disappointing. Arjen Robben let himself go, he was a bit frustrated, but he’s a professional and should control himself.”
The draw means Bayern are still six points short of second place and a guaranteed Champions League place next season.
Fresh from their 5-2 win at holder Inter in the Champions League in midweek, Schalke 04 earned a 1-0 home over VfL Wolfsburg, whose ex-coach Felix Magath returned to Gelsenkirchen just three weeks after being sacked by the Royal Blues.
The defeat leaves 2009 German champions Wolfsburg third from bottom and two points from safety, while Schalke are up to ninth.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim are down to 10th in the table after losing 3-2 to SC Freiburg.
Kaiserslautern are six point clear of the drop zone after they fought back to win 4-2 at 2007 German champions VfB Stuttgart in a relegation battle.
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