European roundup: Erling Haaland helps Dortmund close gap on Bayern

Borussia Dortmund battled to a 3-2 victory at European hopefuls Hoffenheim to close the gap on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich as Erling Haaland made it 56 goals in 57 league games for the club. The win lifted second-placed Dortmund to 43 points, three behind Bayern, who face Hertha in Berlin on Sunday.

Dortmund, looking to make it three wins out of three league games this year, got off to a strong start and Haaland tapped in for the lead in the sixth minute from Donyell Malen’s pass inside the area. Haaland, who had to be taken off injured in the 63rd minute, has scored 16 times in the league this season.

Andrej Kramaric’s sensational volley in first-half stoppage time drew the hosts level but the visitors struck again in the 58th minute with Marco Reus completing a quickfire passing move with a deft finish.

Hoffenheim’s afternoon took a further turn for the worse when David Raum drilled the ball into his own net attempting to clear a Malen cutback to give Dortmund a two-goal lead.

Hoffenheim, battling for a Champions League spot this season, got back into the mix when Georginio Rutter caught the defence napping to latch on to a clever Munas Dabbur chip and slot in, but they eventually ran out of time. They dropped to sixth on 31 points.

Bayer Leverkusen stayed in third on 35 points with a 5-1 demolition of Augsburg courtesy of a Moussa Diaby hat-trick. Union Berlin climbed to fourth following their 2-1 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Max Kruse scoring a first-half penalty and a late winner to give Union victory.

More to follow