BERLIN: Werder Bremen fought back from two goals down in the 89th minute to claim a remarkable 3-2 victory at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, with Scottish forward Oliver Burke scoring the winner.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said his side did not deserve to win but should have held on to their late lead.

“We’re talking about a deserved defeat,” Terzic told AFP subsidiary SID.

“Still, it’s brutally frustrating when you’re 2-0 up until the 88th minute.

“Despite a weak performance, you have to win the game.” Visibly shaken Dortmund captain Marco Reus said he had “no idea how that could happen”.

Bremen coach Ole Werner was unable to explain his side’s miraculous comeback.

“The last minutes were pure emotion. It was madness. It can’t be explained rationally,” he said.

Burke, who also scored in the fifth minute of injury time to see Bremen pick up a point at home to Stuttgart last Saturday, repeated the feat by outrunning Dortmund debutant Niklas Suele to hammer a shot past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and give the visitors all three points.

With Dortmund nursing a comfortable 2-0 lead in the dying stages, Bremen pulled one back through defender Lee Buchanan in the 89th minute, with the Englishman pouncing on a poor clearance.

Dortmund suddenly appeared rattled and conceded an equaliser just three minutes later as Niklas Schmidt netted.

Bremen-born Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt had scored the opener in first-half injury time, placing a superb curling shot in the bottom corner.

Portuguese wing-back Raphael Guerreiro then scored in the 77th minute to give Dort­mund what looked like a comfortable lead.

The defeat ends Dortmund’s unbe­a­ten start to the season and Terzic’s nine-match winning streak.

Leipzig remain winless after an “extremely bitter” 2-1 defeat away at Union Berlin in Saturday’s late game.

The visitors started strongly, with returned striker Timo Werner hitting the post in the 19th minute.

While Leipzig racked up 75 per cent possession throughout the game, Union scored first through American striker Jordan Siebatcheu in the 32nd minute.

Siebatcheu has three goals in four games since arriving in Berlin in the summer.

Siebatcheu turned provider just six minutes later, putting winger Sheraldo Becker into space down the right flank for Union’s second.

Leipzig replied in the 82nd minute when Willi Orban headed in a corner but Berlin held on in a frantic end to the match for a deserved win.

Berlin have lost only three times at home since the start of the 2020-21 season and are unbeaten in their last ten Bundesliga matches.Bayer Leverkusen’s nightmare start to the campaign continued with a 3-0 home loss to Hoffenheim.

Tipped as an outside chance for the title before the season, Leverkusen sit bottom of the table after three losses, alongside a first-round elimination from the German Cup.

Freiburg’s strong start continued with a 1-0 win at local rivals Stuttgart.

Normally a provider, the visitors’ Vincenzo Grifo tapped the ball in from close range to put Frei­burg ahead in the 11th minute.

An injury-time winner from South Korean midfielder Lee Jae-sung saw Mainz defeat Augsburg 2-1.

Promoted Schalke picked up a valuable point with a 0-0 draw at Wolf­sburg, who remain winless under new coach Niko Kovac.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2022