Arjen Robben converted a late penalty on Saturday as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich claimed a 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund, who have now lost their past five league matches.
The defeat leaves Dortmund 16th in the table and among the relegation places as Robben scored his sixth goal in his past six games against them to add to their misery.
With seven points from their first 10 Bundesliga games, it is the worst start to a league season in Dortmund’s history.
Photo: AFP
They are also the only team in Germany’s top flight to have lost seven games this season.
“It’s tough. We invested a lot and played the best first half for a long time, and still got nothing, but the defeat wasn’t undeserved,” Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said.
Marco Reus gave Dortmund a first-half lead, only for Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski to score against his old club before Robben converted an 85th-minute penalty.
“We’ve kept our lead in the league, it was a big day for me,” Lewandowski said.
“Borussia are in a tough situation, but they will end up in the Champions League again next season, I am sure,” he added.
The Allianz Arena clash got off to a frantic start as Robben and Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan both clipped the woodwork in the opening five minutes.
Reus, who Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has admitted Munich want to sign at the end of the season, headed home a perfect Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cross on 31 minutes.
However, with the lion’s share of possession, Bayern battered the Dortmund defense and their goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller kept Borussia in the match with a string of saves.
The hosts drew level when Lewandowski snapped up a loose ball on the edge of the area and drove his shot inside the far post on 72 minutes.
Robben then broke Dortmund hearts when he converted a penalty after center-back Neven Subotic held back Bayern wing Franck Ribery in the area.
Robben returned to haunt Dortmund, having scored the winner in last year’s Champions League final, and he also netted in Bayern’s 2-0 extra-time win over Dortmund in May’s German Cup final in Berlin.
The win keeps Bayern four points clear and there is now a huge 17-point gap between Munich and Dortmund in the table.
Earlier, VfL Wolfsburg climbed to second with a 4-0 hammering of VfB Stuttgart as ex-Chelsea midfielder Kevin de Bruyne shone.
De Bruyne netted his first goal of the season and created another two as die Wolfe picked up their sixth straight win in all competitions.
The 23-year-old provided a free-kick for Robin Knoche to head Wolfsburg into a 2-0 lead at the break after Ivan Perisic’s opening goal for the guests.
Belgium’s De Bruyne then volleyed home from close range on 48 minutes, before robbing Moritz Leitner of possession and providing Perisic with his second goal on 88 minutes.
A Rafael van der Vaart penalty sealed Hamburg SV’s 1-0 win at home to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, which lifted the hosts out of the bottom three.
Hamburg won a bad-tempered affair which saw nine yellow cards — six were handed out in the first half alone — after two separate scuffles broke out.
SC Freiburg, who were scheduled at Cologne yesterday, went bottom of the table after Werder Bremen moved up to 17th as caretaker coach Viktor Skripnikas got their first win of the season.
Ex-Chelsea and Wigan striker Franco di Santo netted both goals in a 2-1 victory over FSV Mainz 05.
Hanover 96 went sixth with a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Borussia Moenchengladbach could reclaim second place and equal the club’s 40-year-old record of 17 games unbeaten when they hosted TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, who have also yet to lose this season, yesterday.
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