Hertha and Dortmund stalemate paves way for Bayern gains
Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin both fluffed their chance on Friday night to put pressure on leaders Bayern Munich as they played out a 1-1 draw in Dortmund.
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The stalemate leaves Bayern with the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to five points provided they beat Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
The clash on Friday night in front of just over 80,000 fans at the Signal Iduna Park ended with an unsavoury flurry as both sides were reduced to 10 men. Dortmund's Emre Mor was sent off for a second yellow card on 84 minutes before Valentin Stocker was given a straight red in the final minute.
Earlier Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a penalty and hit the bar before the Gabon international atoned for his earlier waywardness by scoring the equaliser for the hosts with 10 minutes remaining.
That cancelled out Stocker’s opener for Hertha, who remain second with 14 points after seven games. Dortmund are third with 13 points.
Both sides will drop further if fourth placed Cologne win at home to Ingolstadt on Saturday and newly promoted RasenBallsport Leipzig claim all three points at Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Dortmund’s consolations from the result were the performances of squad players. Missing first choices such as Andre Schuerrle, Gonzalo Castro, Sven Bender, Erik Durm, Sokratis, Raphael Guerreiro, and Lukasz Piszczek, Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel fielded six players under the age of 22.
His faith was repaid as they fought back to earn the draw and set a club record of 25 home games without defeat.
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