Bundesliga Review: Dortmund battle to draw as Leverkusen and Hannover keep up chase

Borussia Dortmund lost further ground on leaders Bayern Munich as they shared an entertaining 2-2 Bundesliga draw with Stuttgart.

Bayern were emphatic 4-0 winners over Paderborn on Tuesday night, with Dortmund widely expected to close to within two points of the defending champions at home to the league’s bottom club.

Stuttgart’s early season struggles were thrown into further turmoil as they announced the sacking of sporting director Fredi Bobic prior to kick-off. But a pair of close-range finishes from Daniel Didavi after half-time put Stuttgart 2-0 up by the 68th minute.

But Dortmund, who lost 2-0 to Mainz at the weekend, showed impressive character as the in-form Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted five minutes later from an acute angle and fellow forward Ciro Immobile hooked home Marcel Schmelzer’s free-kick four minutes from time.

Stuttgart edge off the bottom on goals scored, while Dortmund are in mid-table on seven points – three behind the chasing pack of Bayer Leverkusen and Hannover, who were both 1-0 victors on Wednesday night.

Bundesliga newcomers Cologne headed into their match at Hannover without conceding a goal all season, but that run was broken by Joselu’s fifth-minute opener.

Leverkusen’s Son Heung-min fired his second league goal of the season after 33 minutes to dispatch Augsburg at a rain-soaked BayArena.

Borussia Monchengladbach remain unbeaten following a 1-0 win at home to Hamburg, who fall to the foot of the table.

Max Kruse finished at the second attempt after 25 minutes, while there was yet another 1-0 scoreline in the night’s other match as Hertha Berlin secured their first league win of the campaign, moving level on points with opponents Wolfsburg thanks to a headed goal from former Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou on his full debut.