Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund's title chances suffered a serious blow on Friday after they stumbled to a 1-1 draw at struggling VfL Bochum in the mini Ruhr derby with four games left to play.
Dortmund are on 61 points, two points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich, who will take over the lead if they beat bottom club Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
Dortmund's draw to Bochum means if Bayern win their next match against Hertha Berlin, they will be back on top of the Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/ZiHfSKUgP8
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 28, 2023
Dortmund looked far from serious contenders, chasing their first Bundesliga title in 11 years.
The visitors found themselves 1-0 down after five minutes following Anthony Losilla's thunderous strike from just outside the box.
Yet Bochum's joy only lasted two minutes as unmarked Karim Adeyemi tapped in at the far post for the equalizer.
But the goal failed to inject any sense of urgency into Dortmund's game, with coach Edin Terzic desperately shouting from the sidelines.
Their best chances in the second half only came after the introduction of Marco Reus in the 73rd minute, with the midfielder setting up Youssoufa Moukoko, but his effort was parried by Bochum keeper Manuel Riemann.
Riemann pulled off an even better save in the 76th to deny Jude Bellingham before Donyell Malen, who had scored in the previous five games, sent the ball just wide with a sensational back-heel.
With Terzic booked for dissent in stoppage time, Dortmund eventually ran out of time and will have to wait for Sunday's result in Munich to find out how their title chances look.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis)
