Dortmund stay in title hunt, Havertz sparkles again

Borussia Dortmund scored a goal in each half through Raphael Guerreiro and Achraf Hakimi to beat hosts VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 on Saturday and stay on the heels of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

Portugal international Guerreiro tapped in a cutback from Thorgan Hazard after Erling Haaland had failed to connect in the 32nd minute, and Hakimi fired in from a fine Jadon Sancho assist in the 78th to make sure of the three points.

The result lifted Dortmund to 57 points, one behind Bayern, who are in action against Eintracht Frankfurt later on Saturday. The Bundesliga resumed last week with no fans, after more than two months of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dortmund next face Bayern on Tuesday in a game that could go a long way to deciding the championship.

Wolfsburg, who suffered their first defeat in eight league games, were left with 10 men when substitute Felix Klaus was sent off for a rough challenge.

Elsewhere at Borussia Moenchengladbach Kai Havertz scored a brace for the second match in a row to lead Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-1 win over the hosts whom they leap-frogged their opponents to go third on the standings.

After beating Werder Bremen 4-1 in their first game back since the coronavirus stoppage, Leverkusen got off the mark in the seventh minute.

Gladbach lost possession in midfield, the ball was played wide to Karim Bellarabi and he found Havertz who slotted it past Yann Sommer for his ninth league goal of the season.

The Foals levelled seven minutes after the restart when Ramy Bensebaini chipped the ball over the Leverkusen defence and Marcus Thuram waited for it to drop before firing a first-time shot past Lucas Hradecky.

Six minutes later, Leverkusen regained the lead with a penalty. Bellarabi broke away down the right and fired across the face of the goal but was felled by Nico Elvedi’s sliding challenge.

The referee pointed to the spot, confirmed his decision after a long VAR review and Havertz converted despite Sommer getting a hand to the ball.

Sven Bender headed in a third from a free kick in the 81st minute to leave Leverkusen third with 53 points, one ahead of Gladbach, who dropped to fourth, and four behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund.