Bundesliga wrap: Dortmund keep title race alive

Borussia Dortmund have denied Bayern Munich the Bundesliga title for at least another week with a 2-1 victory over Stuttgart on Saturday.

Bayern needed Dortmund to drop points away to Stuttgart if they were to secure the 2012/13 title with a win over Hamburg in the day’s late kick-off.

But with Polish right-back Lukasz Piszczek leading the way, Dortmund defeated Stuttgart at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, where Robert Lewandowski scored the winner.

Dortmund lost Marcel Schmelzer early in the match after the left-back was accidently kicked in the face by Martin Harnik.

As Alexandru Maxim’s free-kick was swung into the area, Harnik and Schmelzer prepared to challenge for the ball but the Stuttgart winger’s attempted volley saw him smash his shin into his opponent’s face.

Schmelzer was substituted immediately and later left for hospital.

That did not stop Dortmund, however, as Piszczek opened the scoring when he got to
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Marco Reus’ 29th-minute free-kick and flicked a header past Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.

In the 63rd minute, Maxim equalised for Stuttgart when he burst into the area from the right wing and struck the ball into the far corner of the net.

But Dortmund refused to lie down and scored the decisive goal in the 82nd minute when Reus and Piszczek combined down the right before the latter crossed to Lewandowski, who easily side-footed the ball into the net.

The win takes Dortmund to 49 points, denying Bayern the opportunity to wrap up the Bundesliga title this weekend.

In Duesseldorf, Stefan Kiessling and Andre Schuerrle both scored twice as Bayer Leverkusen triumphed 4-1 away to Fortuna, while Schalke smashed Hoffenheim 3-0.

In other Bundesliga results, Freiburg defeated Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, Mainz drew 1-1 with Werder Bremen and Hannover won 2-0 away to Augsburg.

More to follow…