Serhou Guirassy’s late winner gave Borussia Dortmund a tense 2-1 victory at Wolfsburg on Saturday to provisionally cut Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to three points.
A fifth consecutive league victory moved Niko Kovac’s side to within a victory of erstwhile runaway leaders Bayern, who can restore their six-point cushion with a win at in-form Hoffenheim on Sunday.
After a record-breaking start to the season, the champions are winless in their last two games, giving Dortmund the chance to dream of a first title since 2012 with 13 games to go.
It was not a vintage display by Dortmund, who suffered a blow pre-match with the news that captain Emre Can will be sidelined for another month.
But they ground out victory against a Wolfsburg team who have won only once since the turn of the year, thanks to goals by Julian Brandt and Guirassy, each side of a Konstantinos Koulierakis leveller for the hosts.
Max Beier almost put Dortmund ahead in the first half but his effort was deflected by Denis Vavro’s last-ditch block onto the underside of the bar.
But the Wolves failed to heed that warning when a few minutes later Dortmund went ahead.
Julian Ryerson’s 38th-minute corner from the left found Brandt at the near post to nod in.
Dortmund’s advantage was erased seven minutes into the second half when Koulierakis chose the perfect moment to score his first goal for Wolfsburg, powering in a header from close range.
With 15th-placed Wolfsburg only a few minutes away from securing a precious point, Dortmund produced a silky winner as Guinean Guirassy supplied a fine left-footed finish in the 87th minute to hand Kovac a winning return to his former club.
“It was a brilliantly executed goal,” Brandt said. “That is what individual quality is all about.
“We allowed Wolfsburg to believe in the second half. We are very relieved, considering how the game unfolded.”
Pivotal day at bottom
This also proved a pivotal day in the battle for Bundesliga survival as well as the fight for the coveted top-four places.
Relegation-threatened St Pauli, whose last win was before the winter break, won 2-1 at home to fourth-placed Stuttgart, who had not lost in the league since a 5-0 home drubbing by Bayern on December 6.
Daniel Sinani’s clever dummy wrong-footed the Stuttgart defence and the loose ball was lashed in from the edge of the box by Manolis Saliakis for the opener on 35 minutes.
Sinani slotted home from the penalty spot 10 minutes after half-time following a Chris Fuehrich handball.
Stuttgart pulled one back through Jamie Leweling in the last minute but it was too little too late as St Pauli clawed themselves to within touching distance of a survival spot.
Fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen failed to capitalise on Stuttgart’s slip as they were held to a 1-1 draw in the late game at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Yannik Engelhardt pounced to give the hosts the lead inside 10 minutes but an own goal by Gladbach’s Philipp Sander on the stroke of half-time ensured a share of the points.
Mainz continued their remarkable turnaround under Swiss strategist Urs Fischer, who has guided Mainz from the bottom of the table to 13th in a matter of weeks, with a 2-0 win over Augsburg.
Nadiem Amiri scored both goals from the spot to make it four wins in five.
Hamburg also picked up a precious three points, winning their first game on the road this season 2-0 at bottom-placed Heidenheim.
Werder Bremen were edged out by a sensational solitary strike by Freiburg’s Jan-Niklas Beste to extend their winless streak to 11 games.
AFP