Borussia Dortmund on Friday slipped deeper into crisis after losing 2-1 at VfB Stuttgart for their fourth defeat in their past five Bundesliga matches.
The Ruhr valley club, firm title contenders only a few weeks ago with six wins from their first seven league matches, have lost their winning touch and are without a Bundesliga victory since September, piling pressure on coach Peter Bosz.
Dortmund, who are to take on Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League next week, are stuck on 20 points in third place with champions Bayern Munich, top on 26, yesterday to take on Augsburg.
Photo: EPA-EFA
RB Leipzig, four points behind in second, travel to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Stuttgart, who have now won all of their 16 points this season at home, climbed to 11th.
A disastrous back pass from Marc Bartra allowed Chardac Akolo to slip in and put Stuttgart ahead in the fifth minute.
Dortmund were in control and had their chances, but with top striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang suspended, they lacked his finish.
“This defeat is very painful. We came here to win and we are very disappointed,” Bosz told reporters. “It is ridiculous how we concede goals, but after the first goal we played good football.”
“Unfortunately, the second half was not that good, but we will not give up. We will keep going,” he added.
Dortmund still managed a late first-half equalizer, with Maximilian Philipp scoring on the rebound after Andre Schuerrle’s penalty was saved.
However, Josip Brekalo fired in through the legs of goalkeeper Roman Buerki six minutes after the restart to restore their lead with a break that once again took the shaky Dortmund defense by complete surprise.
Stuttgart had several more good chances to add to their tally with Brekalo and Berkay Ozcan as frustrated Dortmund ran out of gas.
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