|
Borussia Dortmund completed the double over their namesakes from Monchengladbach with a 3-1 win at the Borussia Park Stadion on Saturday evening. Marco Reus put Dortmund in front with a game against his former club and Henrikh Mkhitaryan made it two just after the interval. Raffael pulled a goal back to make things interesting, but Ilkay Gundogan restored Dortmund's two-goal lead which they did not relinquish as they returned to within eight points of league leaders Bayern Munich -- and perhaps more importantly, increased their advantage over third-placed Hertha Berlin to eight. Bayer Leverkusen failed to move into the top four as they needed a late goal from Omer Toprak to claim a 1-1 draw at struggling Hoffenheim, who moved off the bottom of the table with a point. Jiloan Hamad scored his first Bundesliga goal just before half-time, showing excellent composure with his volley through a pack of players inside the area to send Hoffenheim in front. Hamad missed an even easier chance to double Hoffenheim's lead early in the second half, but Leverkusen's risky game paid off when Toprak bravely headed in a loose ball from close range with 15 minutes remaining. Hertha Berlin and Augsburg, the Bundesliga's two form teams before the winter break, shared the spoils from a 0-0 draw in the German capital on Saturday. The two teams returned to league action lethargically at the Olympiastadion and, while they managed to extend their respective three and five-game unbeaten streaks, neither side will be particularly happy. Stuttgart avenged a 3-1 defeat to Cologne on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga season by beating the same team by the same scoreline. Cologne took the lead with their first shot on goal from Anthony Modeste, but Daniel Didavi brought the visitors level 10 minutes before the interval. Werner then put Stuttgart in front early in the second half, heading in Filip Kostic's corner from five yards, and Stuttgart captain Christian Gentner put the result beyond doubt in the 83rd minute when he turned Lukas Rupp's pass into an open goal. Ingolstadt started the second half of the season the way they had started the first, with a 1-0 win over Mainz. Moritz Hartmann hit the crossbar for the hosts in the 20th minute before giving them the lead from the penalty spot after Danny Latza handled the ball inside the penalty area. Hannover slumped to the foot of the table after Thomas Schaaf's first game in charge, with a 2-1 defeat at home to Darmstadt seeing them hit rock bottom. Hugo Almeida may have marked his debut in style, drilling the ball into the roof of the net from 15 yards out to give Hannover the lead in the 10th minute, but it was a false dawn for a new-look Reds. Sandro Wagner levelled for Darmstadt with his fifth of the season, turning in a knock-down from former Hannover forward Jan Rosenthal from close range, and Wagner netted his second from another Rosenthal knock-down which this time came back to him off the post.
|
