BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund blew the Bundesliga title race wide open with a 4-1 win over Hertha Berlin on Sunday, but in-form striker Karim Adeyemi limped off clutching his hamstring in the first half.
The win saw Dortmund pull level on points with league leaders Bayern Munich and high-flying Union Berlin, who were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Schalke earlier on Sunday.
The Signal-Iduna-Park was bouncing as Adeyemi gave Dortmund the lead with a brilliant backheel on 27 minutes.
Adeyemi set up Donyell Malen for his side’s second with a brilliant cross four minutes later as he curled the ball into the box.
There was fresh hope for relegation-threatened Hertha when Lucas Tousart thundered the ball in off the bar just after the break to halve Dortmund’s lead.
But Dortmund overcame their nerves again and Reus smashed a free-kick into the top corner to restore the two-goal cushion.
Julian Brandt made it four late on, linking up with Jamie Bynoe-Gittens to score for a third league game in a row.
In one of the most intriguing Bundesliga title races for years, Dortmund, Union and Bayern are now all on 43 points.
In Sunday’s late game, a late penalty from Danish forward Marcus Ingvartsen helped Mainz record a valuable 3-2 victory away at Bayer Leverkusen.
In a fiery encounter, which saw 10 yellow cards, Amine Adli was shown straight red for bringing down Silvan Widmer in the box after 81 minutes, with Ingvartsen stepping up to break the deadlock.
The win saw Mainz leapfrog Leverkusen into ninth place, inflicting a third loss in four games.
Union missed the opportunity to leapfrog Bayern into first with a miserable 0-0 draw at home to bottom club Schalke.
Schalke looked the more dangerous side in the second half, with Union appearing to be running on empty after their Europa League draw with Ajax last Thursday.
Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2023