Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga struggles continued on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Augsburg.
Despite their success in topping a challenging Champions League group that included Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, and Newcastle, Dortmund has managed to secure only one victory in seven league games since October.
Ermedin Demirovic opened the scoring for Augsburg in the 23rd minute, shrugging off a challenge from Nico Schlotterbeck before calmly slotting the ball into the net. The Dortmund defender appealed for a foul, but the goal stood after a VAR review.
Donyell Malen leveled the score for Dortmund shortly after, capitalizing on a clever backheeled pass from Niclas Fuellkrug to nutmeg the Augsburg defender.
Even with a late chance for Dortmund’s Julian Brandt to secure all three points, his injury-time shot went straight at Augsburg goalie Finn Dahmen. With Bayer Leverkusen, the league leaders, set to play their game in hand on Sunday against Eintracht Frankfurt, Dortmund finds themselves trailing by ten points.
The result could see Dortmund finish the round in sixth place if Hoffenheim secures a victory away at RB Leipzig later on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Union Berlin, fresh from their inaugural Champions League journey that ended against Real Madrid, suffered a 3-0 defeat at Bochum. Goals from Takuma Asano, Goncalo Paciencia, and a late penalty from Kevin Stoeger secured a comfortable win for Bochum, extending their lead over the relegation places to six points.
In a ten-man battle, Wolfsburg managed a hard-fought 1-0 victory away at promoted Darmstadt, with Croatia midfielder Lovro Majer scoring the lone goal. Wolfsburg’s Maxence Lacroix received a red card midway through the first half for a last-man foul, marking his fifth red card in less than 100 games for Wolfsburg.
In other matches, promoted Heidenheim secured a 1-0 win at Mainz with an early goal from Marvin Pieringer, leaving the struggling hosts stuck in the bottom two.
The remaining top-four teams are set to play on Sunday, with second-placed Bayern Munich hosting third-placed Stuttgart, and league leaders Leverkusen facing Frankfurt at home.
Source: AFP
