BERLIN, Feb 14: Marco Reus scored twice to lead Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 win at Union Berlin and cut Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga lead to six points on Sunday.
It also went some way to answering mounting criticism after Dortmund’s 5-2 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen the previous Sunday, which had allowed Bayern to pull nine points clear.
Bayern’s surprise 4-2 loss at promoted Bochum on Saturday gave Dortmund added incentive to claim its first league win at Union at the third attempt. Both clubs had previously won home games in their five meetings to date.
Union had been hoping to reclaim fourth place and make up for its own loss to relegation-threatened Augsburg in its previous game. But Urs Fischer’s team lacked a cutting edge in its second match since former Germany forward Max Kruse left for Wolfsburg and was caught out twice in the first half by the clinical Reus.
Union is playing only its third-ever season in the Bundesliga.
Reus opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Mahmoud Dahoud played him in to shoot low through Andreas Luthe’s legs.
Reus scored again seven minutes later when Donyell Malen held off Robin Knoche and Bastian Oczipka to play him through. The Dortmund captain rounded the Union goalkeeper before finishing from a narrow angle.
Malen twice went close before Union showed signs of a comeback later.
But Raphaël Guerreiro scored the visitors’ third from close range in the 71st and VAR added to the home fans’ sense of injustice. Union’s Kevin Möhwald had a goal ruled out because Anthony Ujah was deemed to have used his arm against Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji before Möhwald headed in Trimmel’s cross.
Ujah fired over late on and Union dropped to seventh with just its second defeat at home this season. Hoffenheim jumped to fifth by beating relegation-threatened Arminia Bielefeld 2-0.
Dortmund was again without injured star forward Erling Haaland due to “muscular problems” and the club said Gio Reyna didn’t play because of illness, one game after the American midfielder returned from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him for five months. (AP)
