Berlin: Borussia Dortmund suffered their first loss of 2024 after losing 3-2 at home to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
Hoffenheim made a fairy-tale start on Sunday night and stunned Dortmund with just two minutes played when Ihlas Bebou benefitted from a poor clearance from Emre Can before slotting the ball from close range past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
BVB responded well and kept Hoffenheim custodian Oliver Baumann busy as Marcel Sabitzer and Donyell Malen came close, reports Xinhua.
Dortmund’s efforts paid off as Malen tapped home a flicked-on corner from Julian Brandt in the 21st minute, before the hosts scored again four minutes later after Nico Schlotterbeck nodded Marco Reus’ free kick past Baumann to make it 2-1.
Dortmund increased the pressure but couldn’t add more goals to their lead before half-time.
Hoffenheim made a promising start into the second half as Julian Ryerson’s misplaced pass allowed Maximilian Beier to unleash a dangerous shot on target in the 57th minute.
Beier cut a better figure in front of the target at the hour mark, finishing off a counterattack into the top corner to level the scores at 2-2.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts as Beier wrapped up his brace three minutes later.
Edin Terzic’s men pressed frenetically for an equalizer, but Hoffenheim’s defense stood firm to snap a winless run of eight games.
With the result, Dortmund remain fourth, six points behind third-placed Stuttgart, while Hoffenheim jump to eighth.
“We started the game extremely nervous and were behind very early. After that, we showed a good first half. But we didn’t like the fact that we had to defend a lot of counterattacks. We started the second half extremely poorly, completely inviting the opponent to gain a foothold in the game. That was extremely frustrating today,” rued Terzic.
In the other matches, Eintracht Frankfurt bounced back twice and secured a share of the spoils in a 2-2 draw with struggling Wolfsburg, while Augsburg snatched a late 2-1 win over Freiburg.
(IANS)
