Bundesliga leaders Dortmund stumble as Bayern close in

BERLIN: An injury time penalty from Salomon Kalou earned Hertha Berlin a 2-2 draw at Bundesliga tabletoppers Borussia Dortmund and allowed champions Bayern Munich to move within two points of the leaders.

Kalou’s cool conversion completed his brace and earned a deserved point for the capital club, who move up to fifth. Dortmund had twice led through Jadon Sancho but at least remain unbeaten.

Bayern triumphed 2-1 having been pegged back at Mainz with Thiago grabbing the winner midway through the second half. The title-holders move second in the table but will lose a place if Werder Bremen beat Bayern Leverkusen on Sunday.

Elewhere, mid-table Hoffenheim crushed 10-man and joint-last VFB Stuttgart 4-0, with all goals in a span of 12 minutes early in the second half.

Augsburg won 2-1 away to Hanover while promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf’s struggles continued with a 3-0 home defeat against Wolfsburg.

League top scorers Dortmund made a furious start against the capital club and Sancho was denied first by a goal-saving block and then the video referee.

But good play by Mario Goetze set up the English teenager for a tap-in to finally break the deadlock in the 27th. Hertha levelled against the run of play when Mahmoud Dahoud carelessly lost possession and Maximilian Mittelstaedt crossed for Kalou to score before the break. Dortmund were back on top just after the hour when Marco Reus either missed or brilliantly dummied a cross from Achraf Hakimi and Sanchohad a simple task just after the hour.

Hertha rallied in the closing stages and as the 90 minutes ended Dan-axel Zagadou hauled down Selke in the box to set up the well-earned equalizer.

“We played very well. We had many scoring opportunities and wanted to win. But Hertha were dangerous on the counter. We had chances for 3-1 but in the end we make a little mistake. That’s football,” Dortmund coach Lucien Favre said.