Dortmund win to keep up pressure on Bayern

The continued absence of star striker Erling Haaland did not to prevent Borussia Dortmund moving to within a point of leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday with a 2-1 win Bundesliga win over Augsburg.

Raphael Guerreiro, from the penalty spot, and Julian Brandt grabbed the goals for Dortmund either side of Andi Zegiri's equalizer to take them second in the table for at least 24 hours.

Bayer Leverkusen can reclaim second at Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday after Bayern Munich host Eintracht Frankfurt.

Norway's Haaland remains out with a muscle injury having last played in the middle of September. Dortmund hope he'll be able to return after the international break.

After defeating Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday, Dortmund entered the game with confidence and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw's foul on Donyell Malen allowed Guerreiro to open the scoring in just 10 minutes.

But Dortmund eased up and Augsburg, now only just outside the bottom three, fought back well. Zaqiri was best placed when Arne Maier struck the bar and level before the break.

After the restart it was Augsburg who looked sharper but Brandt finish a slick counter-attack in the 51st with what turned out to be the winner.

Zaqiri had what looked like an immediate second leveller rightly disallowed for a foul and after a nervous finale, Dortmund claimed the points.

"In the previous season we would have conceded the equalizer, this season we held on to see it out," said Brandt.

The match was watched by 41,000 fans, in a continued easing of coronavirus restrictions. "It's an unbelievable feeling. I couldn't wait to play in front of so many fans again," said centre back. Manuel Akanji.

Dortmund lost last week to Borussia Moenchengladbach, who continued their recovery from a poor start with a 3-1 at 10-man Wolfsburg.

Breel Embolo and Jonas Hofmann struck in the opening seven minutes for Gladbach, who are up to eighth, and Joe Scally made the poins safe in injury-time.

Wolfsburg, who fell to fifth, replied through Luca Waldschmidt but Maxence Lacroix's red card in conceding a penalty missed by Lars Stindl effectively cost them their chance of a comeback.

"It was an intensive and exciting game over 90 minutes which had everything in it a football fan could wish for," said Gladbach boss Adi Huetter.

"I'm happy for the whole team who worked hard the full week after the Dortmund game and came out the same way today."

RB Leipzig bounced back from a midweek Champions League loss with by grinding out a 3-0 win over second-bottom Bochum in the late game.

After some whistles following a goalless first half, Andre Silva headed the opener from a 69th minute corner seconds after coming off the bench. Christopher Nkunku immediately doubled the lead and added another before the end to put a slightly misleading gloss on the final score.

Leipzig are provisionally seventh but last season's runners-up remain off the pace of the leaders.

VfB Stuttgart beat local rivals Hoffenheim 3-1 in a midtable encounter while Freiburg went third with a 2-1 success at struggling Hertha Berlin, who insisted Pal Dardai would remain as coach.

"The performance and the effort was in order overall, also with the body language," said sport chief Fredi Bobic. "Also if the result wasn't right."

Cologne continued their good start 3-1 over bottom side Greuther Fuerth on Friday while Sunday's card begins with Mainz v Union Berlin.