Borussia Dortmund dropped their first Bundesliga points of the season on Wednesday as their 1-1 draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim left Bayern Munich two-points clear at the top.
After Bayern’s staggering 5-1 win at home to VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday, when Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in nine second-half minutes, Dortmund squandered the chance to regain top spot.
Dortmund had their 11-match winning run ended as they failed to match the Bavarians’ six straight wins, giving Pep Guardiola’s side a psychological advantage for the Dortmund-Bayern clash in Munich on Sunday week.
Photo: AP
Second-placed Dortmund found themselves 1-0 down in Hoffenheim when Germany international Sebastian Rudy netted just before the break.
However, Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel brought on defensive midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the equalizer followed soon after.
Midfielder Gonzalo Castro chested down Mats Hummels pass and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stabbed home his seventh goal in six league games on 55 minutes.
The goal meant the Gabon winger scored in each of his first six league games this season, setting a new Bundesliga record.
There was a perfect opportunity to score just moments afterward when Hoffenheim’s Chile international Eduardo Vargas had hit the post after beating Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki, but Borussia could not force a winner.
Despite holding Dortmund, Hoffenheim were second from bottom with just two points from two draws.
“We beat about the bush a bit,” Tuchel told Sky. “We didn’t have the necessary drive in our game. We need to be dangerous in front of goal.”
“We weren’t forceful enough, but we must take care that we don’t see ourselves as the losers, because we’re not,” he said.
Former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez scored his first goal in the Bundesliga with the winner for his new club Bayer 04 Leverkusen to seal their 1-0 win over FSV Mainz 05.
Schalke 04 were third after Cameroon center-back Joel Matip headed home from a corner and Leroy Sane scored late on, his second in as games, to seal a 2-0 home victory against Eintracht Frankfurt, their third consecutive win.
Borussia Moenchengladbach climbed off the bottom of the league with their first win after five straight defeats with a 4-2 victory over Augsburg under caretaker coach Andre Schubert, following Lucien Favre’s shock resignation.
Hannover 96 went bottom after their 2-1 defeat at home to VfB Stuttgart, which left coach Michael Frontzeck under pressure with just one point from their opening six games, while Stuttgart were second from bottom.
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