Saturday 2 December 2017 21:03, UK
Andriy Yarmolenko eased some of the pressure on Borussia Dortmund head coach Peter Bosz by forcing a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen.
A week after Dortmund let a four-goal lead slip to tie with Ruhr derby rivals Schalke, their raw Bundesliga wounds were reopened when Kevin Volland fired Leverkusen ahead at the BayArena.
But Die Werkself then lost Wendell to a VAR-aided red card, giving Dortmund an opening to hit back and avoid suffering a fourth defeat in five games.
Hot-shot Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was banned following his dismissal against Schalke, but Dortmund found a goal from an alternative source as Yarmolenko levelled in the 73rd minute.
Leaders Bayern Munich are now 10 points better off than Dortmund after Robert Lewandowski's late penalty made sure they defeated promoted Hannover 3-1 at the Allianz Arena.
Artur Vidal had stuck Thomas Muller's assist away midway through the first half to keep Bayern on the winning trail but, not long after Niclas Fullkrug missed a spot-kick for Hannover, Charlison Benschop headed them level 10 minutes before the break.
Bayern toiled in pursuit of another goal, which Kingsley Coman eventually provided in the 67th minute, and with time ticking away Lewandowski rubber-stamped the points from the spot.
Hoffenheim powered their way above both Dortmund and Leverkusen and into the top five by thrashing second-placed RB Leipzig 4-0.
Nadiem Amiri notched first, with on-loan Bayern man Serge Gnabry scoring twice after half-time before Mark Uth made it 4-0 in the 87th-minute.
Augsburg are on the rise, too. Michael Gregoritsch hit the first goal of their 3-1 win at Mainz and Iceland's Alfred Finnbogason doubled the Fuggerstadter's lead with a penalty just before the interval.
Gerrit Holtmann sparked some drama at the death with a reply for lowly Mainz, but World Cup-bound Finnbogason killed off the game with his second from a Caiuby pass.
Elsewhere, Max Kruse's goal on the stroke of half-time secured a 1-0 victory over Stuttgart for Werder Bremen, who are now point away from Freiburg and escaping the bottom two.
In the late game, rock-bottom Cologne twice came back from behind to frustrate third-placed Schalke and claim only their third point of the season in a 2-2 draw.
Guido Burgstaller's 36th-minute opener for the hosts was cancelled out by Sehrou Guirassy for the visitors five minutes into the second half.
Amine Harit restored the visitors' advantage in the 72nd minute before Guirassy's second from the penalty spot secured a rare point for Peter Stoger's men, who had Yuya Osaka sent off deep into injury time.
