Dortmund held in Hanover after Diouf's late goal
BERLIN (AFP) –
Hanover’s striker Mame Diouf celebrates scoring with a cartwheel during the German first division Bundesliga football match Hannover 96 vs Borussia Dortmund in Hannover. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Defending champions Borussia Dortmund stayed fourth in the Bundesliga on Sunday after Hanover’s Mame Diouf hit a late equaliser to seal a 1-1 draw and share the points.
Hanover have not lost at home in the Bundesliga for nearly 18 months and ex-Manchester United striker Diouf rescued their proud record at the AWD-Arena with an 86th-minute equaliser as the hosts finished with a flurry.
With Bayern Munich five points clear at the top of the table after their 2-0 win over Hoffenheim on Saturday gave them a Bundesliga record-equalling seventh straight victory, Dortmund are now nine points behind the Bavarians.
Dortmund took an early lead which was ‘Made in Poland’ as defender Lukasz Piszczek found some space in the Hanover penalty area and squared to his Polish team-mate Robert Lewandowski who fired home on 26 minutes.
Hanover had their chances to equalise with Ivory Coast striker Didier Ya Konan, then second-half replacement Diouf only being denied by good work from the solid Dortmund defence.
The equaliser came in the 86th minute when Ya Konan fired in a shot which Diouf managed to latch onto to stab the ball past the despairing Dortmund defence and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Leverkusen finish the weekend sixth in the table after their 2-2 draw at VfB Stuttgart as ex-Germany striker Stefan Kiessling scored twice for the guests while Vedad Ibisevic netted both goals for Hoffenheim.
Earlier second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt suffered their first league defeat of the season after going down to a shock 2-0 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Having won promotion from the second division in May, Armin Veh-coached Frankfurt had previously won six of their seven games since coming up, while this was only Gladbach’s second league win of the season.
The victory moves Gladbach up to 10th in the table, while Frankfurt stay second thanks to goals by Venezuela veteran Juan Arango and Dutch striker Luuk de Jong put the hosts 2-0 up after only 24 minutes.
Moenchengladbach’s Venezuelan midfielder Juan Arango (R) and Frankfurt’s defender Sebastian Jung vie for the ball during the German first division Bundesliga football match. Second-place Frankfurt suffered their first Bundesliga defeat after going down to a shock 2-0 loss.
On Saturday, there was no happy return to Gelsenkirchen for Wolfsburg’s ex-Schalke coach Felix Magath as the Royal Blues enjoyed a 3-0 win.
Magath spent two years at Schalke before he was sacked in February 2011, when he returned to Wolfsburg.
Magath’s team were well beaten at Veltins Arena thanks to goals by Peru striker Jefferson Farfan, Dutch forward Ibrahim Afellay, and midfielder Roman Neustaedter.
It was Wolves’ sixth game without a win and their third straight defeat, leaving Magath’s team second from bottom, while Schalke moved up to third.
Hamburg continued their rise up the table to eighth with a 1-0 win at Bavarian side Greuther Fuerth thanks to South Korean striker Son Heung-Min’s first-half goal.
Mainz enjoyed a 1-0 win at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf, while Freiburg recorded their first win in four games with a 3-0 victory at home to Nuremberg.
On Friday, Werder Bremen lost 3-1 at Augsburg as the hosts enjoyed their first win of the season.