A late equalizer from Erling Haaland on Saturday spared Borussia Dortmund’s blushes, as both they and Bayer 04 Leverkusen dropped points in the race for the Bundesliga top four.
Haaland’s 81st-minute strike saved a 2-2 draw at home to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and averted a fourth defeat in five Bundesliga games for crisis-hit Dortmund.
Yet even a draw leaves Dortmund three points adrift of the UEFA Champions League places in sixth, and heaps more pressure on interim coach Edin Terzic.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Dortmund have won just four of 10 league games since Terzic took the reins from Lucien Favre in December last year, prompting growing speculation over his future. Yet veteran defender Mats Hummels defended his coach and backed Dortmund to revive their season.
“It’s never the case that things are exactly how you want them a few weeks after a new coach takes over. That wasn’t the case years ago under Juergen Klopp, and it isn’t the case now under Edin,” Hummels told Sky. “We’re working hard and success will come.”
Jadon Sancho gave Dortmund a perfect start, racing up the left to score his fourth league goal this season on 24 minutes.
The lead did not last long, as Munas Dabbur scuffed a shot past Marwin Hitz to level just seven minutes later.
Ihlas Bebou bundled in Hoffenheim’s second just after halftime, the ball bouncing off the Togolese and into the goal as Hitz tried to beat away a dangerous cross from the left.
Haaland had a goal ruled out for offside in the second half, before pouncing on a misplaced pass to snatch a crucial late equalizer.
Fellow Champions League hopefuls Leverkusen also dropped points after they conceded two late goals to draw 2-2 with strugglers FSV Mainz 05.
Lucas Alario tapped in a low Moussa Diaby cross to give Leverkusen the lead on 14 minutes. Patrik Schick appeared to have sealed three points with a second on 84 minutes.
Yet second-from-bottom Mainz were rewarded for a brave performance as late goals by Robert Glatzel and Kevin Stoeger saved a point, continuing their revival under new coach Bo Svensson.
Elsewhere, Sami Khedira helped rescue a 1-1 draw for Hertha BSC against boyhood club VfB Stuttgart.
“It was the first time I’d ever played against Stuttgart, so it was strange, but it was nice to come back,” said Khedira, who joined Hertha from Juventus last month after a decade abroad.
Austrian striker Sasa Kalajdzic headed in his ninth goal of the season to give Stuttgart the lead at the end of a scrappy first half.
Veteran midfielder Khedira came off the bench in the second half and set up a late equalizer for 17-year-old Luca Netz to save the capital club from a fifth straight defeat.
Werder Bremen were held 0-0 draw at home by SC Freiburg, while the game between Union Berlin and Schalke 04 also ended goalless.
Schalke remain nine points adrift of safety ahead of Saturday’s derby at home to Dortmund.
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