Points without Haaland: Dortmund win to keep up pressure on Bayern

Berlin, October 3 (BNA) The continued absence of star striker Erling Haaland did not prevent Borussia Dortmund from moving close to leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Augsburg.

Rafael Guerrero, from the penalty spot, and Julian Brandt scored Dortmund’s two goals on both sides of Andy Zegeri’s equalizer to finish second in the standings for at least 24 hours, according to the German news agency (dpa).

Bayer Leverkusen could reclaim second place in Armenia Bielefeld on Sunday after Bayern Munich host Eintracht Frankfurt.

Norway’s Haaland remains off the field with a muscle injury, having last played in mid-September. Dortmund hope to be able to return after the international break.

After beating Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday, Dortmund entered the game with confidence, and Jeffrey Guilio’s error on Doniel Mallin allowed Guerrero to open the scoring in just 10 minutes.

But Dortmund calmed down and fought Augsburg, who is now only out of the top three, well. Zakiri was at his best when Arne Meyer hit the crossbar and the equalizer before the break.

After the start of the second half, Augsburg looked sharper, but Brandt finished off a superb counterattack in the 51st minute with what turned out to be the winner.

Zekeri had what looked like an instant equalizer who was disqualified due to a foul and after a nervous finale, Dortmund claimed the points.

“The previous season we would have accepted the equalizer, this season we stuck with it,” Brandt said.

The match was watched by 41,000 fans, in the continued easing of Corona virus restrictions. “It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said the central defender. “I couldn’t wait to play in front of so many fans again.” Manuel Akanji.

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Dortmund lost last week to Borussia Moenchengladbach, who continued to recover from a poor start, 3-1 against Wolfsburg with ten men.

Brill Empolo and Jonas Hoffmann scored in the first seven minutes for Gladbach, who is eighth, and Joe Scully made points safe in injury time.

Wolfsburg, who fell to fifth, responded through Luca Waldschmidt, but Maxence Lacroix’s red card to net a penalty missed by Lars Stendel cost them their chance to come back.

“It was an intense and exciting 90-minute match and experienced everything a football fan could wish for,” Gladbach coach Adi Hütter said.

“I’m happy for the whole team that worked hard all week after the Dortmund game and came out the same way today.”

RB Leipzig recovered from their midweek Champions League defeat with a 3-0 win over second-placed Bochum at the end of the match.

After some whistles after the goalless first half, Andre Silva scored the first goal from a corner kick in the 69th minute after coming off the bench. Christopher Nkunko immediately doubled the lead and added another just before the end to put a slightly misleading shine on the end result.

Leipzig is temporarily seventh but last season’s runners-up remained far from the pace of the leader.

Stuttgart beat local rivals Hoffenheim 3-1 in a midfield meeting while Freiburg finished third with a 2-1 victory over struggling Hertha Berlin, who insisted on keeping Pal Darday as coach.

“Performance and effort were regulated overall, as well as with body language,” said sports chief Freddy Bobic. “Also if the result is incorrect.”

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Cologne continued its good 3-1 start to bottom line Greether Fuerth on Friday while Sunday’s card started with Mainz against Union Berlin.

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