Borussia Dortmund earned a 1-0 win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Friday to climb off the bottom of the Bundesliga and escape the bottom three.
Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan scored Dortmund’s first-half winner which lifted them to 14th place ahead of the weekend’s other matches.
It was a much more polished performance from Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund, who have already qualified for the round-of-16 of the UEFA Champions League, but have been in poor form domestically.
Photo: Reuters
The victory offers last season’s runners-up some respite after losing seven of their past 10 league games.
It was only their fourth win in the league this season, 14 games into the campaign.
There was more good news for Borussia as their captain, Germany international centerback Mats Hummels, made his return after missing the previous five games with a sprained ankle. Hummels marked his return with a key clearing header at the start of the second half.
The defeat leaves Hoffenheim still seventh in the table, but Markus Gisdol’s side can have no complaints after managing just six shots at goal compared with Dortmund’s 19.
Klopp sprang a surprise before kickoff when he opted for Australian Mitchell Langerak over Germany’s Roman Weidenfeller in goal.
The Socceroos goalkeeper has been used as an understudy since joining Dortmund in 2010 and only previously played when World Cup-winner Weidenfeller had been either injured or rested, but with Dortmund having dropped to the bottom of the Bundesliga Klopp opted to give Langerak only his 12th appearance in the German top flight.
Weidenfeller was left on the bench along with former Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa.
Klopp had described the Hoffenheim clash as “High Noon” for his team as they looked to bounce back from a dire run of league results and his side were quickest on the draw.
Gundogan, who only recently returned from a long-term back injury, scored his first goal since the 2012-2013 UEFA Champions League final defeat to Bayern Munich when he headed home Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cross after just 17 minutes.
Gabon winger Aubameyang was unlucky not to get on the score sheet himself as he had two goals disallowed for marginal offside calls and then hit the post in the second half.
Dortmund’s win saw Hamburg SV, who are to host FSV Mainz 05 today, drop to the bottom of the table.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was