Dortmund humiliated by Leverkusen in Erling Haaland's absence

Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga title hopes were left in tatters on Sunday as they crashed to a 5-2 defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen, with injured star striker Erling Haaland forced to watch from the sidelines. In a game they had to win to keep the pace in the title race, Dortmund's calamitous defending saw them slump to a sixth defeat of the season and fall further behind league leaders Bayern Munich. They are now nine points adrift of the top, with their lead over third-placed Leverkusen slashed to just five points.

Much had been made of Haaland's absence, but it was fellow convalescent Mats Hummels who was more sorely missed, as Dortmund's back line self-immolated in the first half. Hummels' replacement, Dan-Axel Zagadou, handed Leverkusen the opener on a plate after just 10 minutes in a comedy of defensive errors. Too hesitant on the ball after a short goal-kick, Zagadou gave the ball away cheaply in his own box, allowing Patrik Schick to shoot unchallenged from point-blank range.

As goalkeeper Gregor Kobel dived full-length to parry the shot, Manuel Akanji hurried back to help, only to end up bundling the ball into his own net. Another own goal at the opposite end brought Dortmund level a few minutes later, Jeremie Frimpong flicking a Julian Brandt free-kick past his own goalkeeper. But Leverkusen had smelt blood, and took the lead again with a devastating counter-attack, the entire front line linking up to provide Florian Wirtz with a tap-in.