Draw for Dortmund

Borussia Monchengladbach shared the points with their namesakes from Dortmund as a game of two halves ended 1-1 at the Borussia Park Stadion yesterday.

Mario Gotze gave Dortmund the lead from the penalty spot in the 11th minute, but a first professional goal from Amin Younes earned the home side a point midway through the second half.

The result sees Dortmund take a small slice out of Bayern Munich’s advantage at the top of the Bundesliga and they are now trailing by 17 points.

New Greuther Furth coach Ludwig Preis picked up a point from his first match in charge as the league’s bottom team held third-placed Bayer Leverkusen to a goalless draw.

The Bavarians showed a degree of confidence and belief that they had rarely displayed all season, and they had arguably the better chances to win the match.

Leverkusen did not know what had hit them and what seemed like an easy three points on paper turned into a frustrating battle to get just a point.

In spite of a 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday, Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes still found something to quibble about at the end of his 1,000th Bundesliga game as coach. The record Bundesliga champions tore Bremen apart, leaving them with an almost unassailable lead at the top of the table as they close in on a 22nd title.

Yet Heynckes is seeking perfection and he did not quite see that in his side’s latest victory.

“What annoys us a little is that we conceded a goal,” he said.

“We had not counted on that. During the interval, we said to ourselves that it was important to keep a clean sheet, but we can cope with that.”