Dortmund drops lead again, loses at Hoffenheim 2-1

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This article was published 20/12/2019 (2431 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BERLIN – Borussia Dortmund let a lead slip for the second consecutive game as Hoffenheim scored two late goals to win 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Friday.

Dortmund, which twice dropped a lead in allowing Leipzig to draw 3-3 on Tuesday, was again left to rue mistakes after Mario Götze gave the visitors an early lead.

Sargis Adamyan equalized in the 79th minute and set up Andrej Kramaric for the winner in the 87th.

It was the ninth game from 17 so far in which Dortmund has dropped points, and it will cast a shadow over Lucien Favre’s team as it goes into the Bundesliga’s winter break.

Dortmund, which had declared a title challenge before the season, remained fourth, four points off the lead having played a game more and with the prospect of being overtaken by bitter rival Schalke on Saturday.

“We really needed three points here,” Dortmund midfielder Julian Weigl said. “We’re bitterly disappointed.”

Götze made the most of his rare start with the opening goal in the 17th. Much of it was down to Achraf Hakimi, who outpaced a Hoffenheim defender to reach Thorgan Hazard’s through ball and cut it back for Götze. Sebastian Rudy’s attempt to clear off the line came too late.

Robert Skov struck the crossbar with a free kick in the closest Hoffenheim came in the first half.

Dortmund missed a number of chances but seemed to have the game under control until it paid the price for becoming increasingly passive late on.

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Ciarán Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP