By Canadian Press

Dortmund relief as Haaland scores late to beat Düsseldorf

Jun 13, 2020 | 12:24 PM

BERLIN — Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga title celebrations were put on ice after Erling Haaland scored in the fifth minute of injury time for Borussia Dortmund to beat Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-0 on Saturday.

Dortmund’s last-gasp win cut the gap behind Bayern to four points ahead of the seven-time defending champion’s late game against visiting Borussia Mönchengladbach. Just three rounds remain after this weekend.

Dortmund laboured for long periods in Düsseldorf, where Achraf Hakimi missed the visitors’ biggest chance in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Florian Kastenmeier, who also had little difficulty dealing with Julian Brandt’s effort.

Raphaël Guerreiro thought he’d equalized in the 65th, when he finished off a counterattack with a volley past Kastenmeier. However, the goal was ruled out through VAR after he was adjudged to have controlled the ball with his arm.

Düsseldorf substitute Steven Skrzybski struck the post twice in the closing stages.

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But it was to be another substitute, the 19-year-old Haaland, who powered home a header from Manuel Akanji’s cross in the 95th minute to keep alive Dortmund’s slim title hopes. Bayern’s goal difference is vastly superior to Dortmund’s so a draw would have been little use to Lucien Favre’s side.

The Swiss coach appeared to injure himself in the celebrations.

RELEGATION BATTLE INTENSIFIES

Last-placed Paderborn was virtually relegated in a 5-1 defeat at home to Werder Bremen, which moved just behind Düsseldorf on goal difference. Düsseldorf is third from bottom in the relegation playoff place. Paderborn has 20 points, while Bremen and Düsseldorf have 28.

Union Berlin boosted its survival hopes beating Cologne 2-1.

“Soccer without fans is nothing,” read a banner behind one of the goals in Paderborn.

All Bundesliga games are being played without fans and amid strict hygiene measures since the league resumed on May 16 to reduce the threat of coronavirus infections.

HERTHA’S LUCK RUNS OUT

Hertha Berlin was to rue Dedryck Boyata’s sending off before the break as Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind to win 4-1.

Boyata was sent off for bringing down Bad Dost just before the line. The defender was initially shown his second yellow card and Frankfurt awarded a penalty, but the decision was changed to a straight red and a free kick after a VAR consultation. However, TV replays showed little if no contact.

Frankfurt’s second goal in the 62nd was arguably the goal of the round. Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada dribbled past three Hertha defnders and cut the ball back for André Silva to score with the back of his heel.

Perhaps inspired, Danny da Costa eluded four Hertha defenders before setting up Evan Ndicka for Frankfurt’s third in the 69th. Silva wrapped it up in the 86th.

Also, Freiburg came from behind to draw in Wolfsburg 2-2.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Ciarán Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP

CiaráN Fahey, The Associated Press