Dortmund stay top after fight back at Freiburg

Bundesliga leaders Dortmund had to come from behind on Saturday to earn a 2-1 win at title rivals Freiburg to keep their seven-point lead as second-placed Mainz ended their three-game losing streak.

Dortmund went behind when defender Mats Hummels, who won his second Germany cap in the goalless draw with Sweden on Wednesday, turned the ball into his own net on 26 minutes.

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski saved his side’s blushes with a powerful header on 75 minutes after coming off the bench as his side turned the screw on Freiburg.

The winner came on 78 minutes when Freiburg defender Mensur Mujdza slid the ball into his own net as Dortmund attacked in waves to seal their 11th win from 13 league games.

With third-placed Leverkusen hosting defending champions Bayern Munich on Saturday night, Mainz are back up to second after their 3-2 win over Moenchengladbach.

With his side 2-1 down, Tunisia striker Sami Allagui came off the bench to equalise and then headed the winner in the 88th minute as the guests won their first league match this month.

Schalke hammered fellow Champions League side Werder Bremen 4-0 as Spain striker Raul claimed a hat-trick.

Schalke host leaders Lyon in Group B on Wednesday, while Bremen travel to face Tottenham Hotspur the same day in Group A, but Bremen have now lost five of their last six games.

Schalke took a 2-0 lead into the half-time break thanks for goals by Germany defender Christoph Metzelder and Spanish striker Raul.

Before kick-off, Schalke coach Felix Magath threw US midfielder Jermaine Jones out of the squad for his poor performance in last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg.

The clear message that another poor performance would not be tolerated boosted the squad as Metzelder headed home against Bremen after 22 minutes and Raul slammed home his shot two minutes into injury time at the end of the half.

The Spaniard hit his second on 56 minutes when he latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the Schalke penalty area after Bremen defender Per Mertesacker had only half cleared the ball.

Raul then completed his hat-trick with two well-taken second-half goals including a deft chip over Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese for his third to leave Schalke 14th and Bremen 11th.

Hanover are fourth after their 3-2 win at Hamburg and Hoffenheim are fifth after they enjoyed a 4-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Midtable Kaiserslautern enjoyed a 3-1 win at Nuremberg.