Erling Haaland scored once in either half to steer Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 victory over bottom club Greuther Fürth on Wednesday as they cut the gap to leaders Bayern Munich back down to six points.
Bottom club Fürth, who beat Union Berlin for their first league win of the season at the weekend, kept their hosts at bay for the first half-hour, although Thorgan Hazard’s 25th-minute strike was ruled out for offside. Dortmund won a penalty for handball in the 33rd minute, with Haaland converting from the spot.
Dortmund were made to work for the win, with Cedric Itten missing a chance to equalise before half-time. It was not until the 82nd minute that Haaland made sure of the three points, powering in a header from a Julian Brandt free-kick for his 13th league goal of the campaign, and his 53rd Bundesliga goal in as many matches.
Dutch forward Donyell Malen added a third with a smart finish at the far post in the 89th minute, continuing his own hot streak with his fifth goal in six games in all competitions. Despite their first league win in three matches, Dortmund coach Marco Rose was unimpressed afterwards.
“The performance was a lot of hard work. We had chances but we were a bit sloppy, not fresh enough,” Rose said. “We made too many mistakes … overall it was not the performance we wanted. Everyone felt it. It was not a good game from us and expectations are high. But I hope the result is some consolation.”
Bayer Leverkusen stay in third place but again let a two-goal lead slip as they drew 2-2 at home to Hoffenheim. As with Sunday’s 5-2 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, Patrik Schick scored the game’s first two goals. The Czech forward has now scored all of Leverkusen’s last eight Bundesliga goals after a near-post volley and header in Wednesday’s mach.
Hoffenheim struck twice in the last 10 minutes to earn a draw through Angelo Stiller’s finish from a narrow angle and Munas Dabbur’s backheeled finish. Things got worse for Gerardo Seoane’s side in stoppage time as Moussa Diaby was sent off for picking up a second booking.
Frankfurt are in seventh place and firmly in European contention after a dramatic 3-2 win at Mönchengladbach. The hosts went ahead through Florian Neuhaus, but Jesper Lindstrom set up Santos Borre to equalise on the stroke of half-time, then put the visitors ahead five minutes after the break with a finish into the roof of the net.
Ramy Bensebaini’s 54th-minute penalty brought Gladbach level, only for Daichi Kamada to immediately fire Eintracht back in front, his angled low shot ending a quick break downfield. The visitors held on for the win despite Tuta’s 70th-minute dismissal for a second yellow card.
Elsewhere, Daniel Caligiuri’s late penalty earned struggling Augsburg a 1-1 draw at home to RB Leipzig, while Union Berlin and Freiburg played out a goalless draw.
