BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Cologne on Sunday after taking the lead as they lost ground in the title race, dropping six points behind leaders Bayern Munich with seven games left in the campaign.

Marius Wolf, who had scored the winner against Arminia Bielefeld last week, put the visitors in front after eight minutes but apart from an Erling Haaland shot that sailed narrowly wide, Dortmund showed little else in the first half.

The Norwegian, the subject of intense transfer speculation, made his first start since suffering an injury in January, having come back as a substitute last week.

Cologne were not rattled by Dortmund taking the lead and got a deserved equaliser through Sebastian Andersson in the 36th minute after Jannes Horn’s free kick was headed towards goal by Anthony Modeste.

Dortmund showed few ideas of how to break down the resilient Cologne defence in the second half. They remain in second place on 57 points, with Bayern top on 63.

Brazilian Paulinho came off the bench to score a late double as third-placed Bayer Leverkusen moved up to 48 after their 2-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg earlier while RB Leipzig are in fourth place, three points behind, following a goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Cologne, who have lost just once in their last five league games, are in seventh place on 40 points and in the running for a European spot.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2022