Leverkusen and Dortmund stumble in German Bundesliga

Berlin: Leverkusen lost 3-2 to Freiburg and Dortmund shared points with Augsburg`s following the 18th round in German Bundesliga football.

Leverkusen failed to reap an expected win at relegation threatened Freiburg Saturday, reports Xinhua. The "Werkself" caught a bright start as Germany international Lars Bender scored with a well-placed shot from 30 meters into the bottom left, five minutes into the game. As a consequence of the early opener Leverkusen controlled the proceedings on the pitch meanwhile Freiburg focused on their porous defence. Leverkusen`s Emre Can was unlucky when his shot only rattled the post at the ninth minute. However, the visitors remained unable to extend their lead. Therefore Freiburg shocked the "Werkself" when Admir Mehmedi curled the ball into the top right corner from the edge of the box to restore parity at the 27th minute. Yet, Leverkusen responded in an unimpressed manner through Simon Rolfes, who headed home a corner nine minutes later. The hosts continued with their courageous performance and they were rewarded eight minutes into the second half. Jonathan Schmid`s free-kick cross from sharp angle were deflected by Stefan Kieling to give Leverkusen`s custodian Bernd Leno no chance to make a save. The match was on the knifes-edge but Freiburg punished Leverkusen with a turnover in the dying minutes into the match. Schmid assisted Felix Klaus with a square pass into the box, who made it 3-2 to kill the game. It is Leverkusen`s fifth loss meanwhile Freiburg recorded their fourth victory of the season. Dortmund also dropped points as Juergen Klopp`s men squandered twice their lead to share the spoils with Augsburg. The hosts grabbed an early lead through Sven Bender, who scored his first goal of the season, following a pass into path by Marco Reus. Dortmund dominated the visitors but failed to add another goal to their lead. Neither Marco Reus, Sokratis nor top-scorer Robert Lewandowski were able to make use of their chances. Thus, Augsburg levelled the scores with assistance of Sven Bender, whose clearance attempt ended up in his own goal at the 56 minute. The "BVB" responded just ten minutes later when Nuri Sahin curled a dead ball goal over the wall into the near post angle. After all Dortmund let slip the lead for a second time as Augsburg`s joker Dong Won Ji nodded home the 2-2 at the 72nd minute. Despite the 2-2 draw Dortmund moved on third place, 14 points adrift of Bayern, whereas Ausgburg slump on 9th place with 25 points. Elsewhere, Hannover finished Wolfsburg`s unbeaten run as Lenoardo Bittencourt donated a brace to the 3-1 win. Mainz came from behind to astonish Stuttgart with the late 2-1 winner by Benedikt Saller. Nuremberg finally recorded their first win when they crushed hapless Hoffenheim 4-0 and Frankfurt wrapped up their first home win of the season as they overcame Berlin 1-0. The following matches are scheduled for Sunday: Hamburg host Schalke and Bremen face Braunschweig.