Borussia Dortmund are one win away from their first Bundesliga title in a decade, after two second-half goals from Sebastien Haller secured a 3-0 win in Augsburg on Sunday. Dortmund are now two points ahead of Bayern Munich, who lost 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig on Saturday, with one game remaining. They now need to improve on Bayern’s result at home against Mainz next week to lift the Bundesliga shield for the first time since 2011-12. Despite being reduced to 10 men late in the first half, the game remained scoreless until the 58th minute, when Haller pounced on a rebound to score the opener.
Haller, who missed the first half of the season due to overcoming testicular cancer, scored another with six left to thrill the visiting fans.
Julian Brandt scored another goal in stoppage time.
“We are very happy, but not completely satisfied,” Dortmund manager Edin Terzic told DAZN, “we need to take the next step”.
A “happy and proud” Haller told DAZN “we have a huge opportunity to achieve something big”.
Augsburg manager Enrico Maassen said: “The red card was the crucial moment… you can give it, but that’s a tough call”.
Dortmund, who came into the game knowing victory would put them in control of the title race, had been going winless since February.
The visitors made the trip south without star midfielder Jude Bellingham, who was unable to recover from a knee injury.
Stuttgart’s earlier win in Mainz meant Augsburg were just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Dortmund, who scored 11 times in the last two games, were dominant in the first half, but could not find a breakthrough. Haller forced a fingertip save from Tomas Koubek.
With 33 minutes gone, Julian Brandt grabbed a 40-yard defence-breaking pass from Emre Can, but fired straight into Koubek when he was one on one with the Augsburg keeper.
Shortly before the break, last man Felix Uduokhai earned a red card by tackling Donyell Malen on the edge of the penalty area.
Augsburg dug deep despite the loss of a man hoping to take a point.
Haller eventually broke through for the visitors, grabbing a rebound from Koubek before turning and firing the ball into the far corner.
With just over five minutes remaining, Haller repeated the trick, pounced on a rebounded shot from Marco Reus to tag Dortmund 2–0 up, leading the visiting fans to shout of “German champions, only Dortmund”.
As the clock ticked down, Dortmund captain Mats Hummels was helped off the field after hitting a shoe in the face.
The central defender’s replacement, Nico Schlotterbeck, shot the ball through so that Brandt scored a third.
Stuttgart lives on
Earlier, a goal and two assists from substitute Chris Fuehrich gave Stuttgart a huge boost in their relegation battle, with a 4-1 win away at Mainz.
Arriving with 30 minutes remaining with the score tied at 1-1, Führich scored a goal for Serhou Guirassy just two minutes later, before scoring one himself.
The winger scored another stoppage-time goal for Tanguy Coulibaly to lift his side from the relegation place to a safe 15th place with one matchday remaining.
Having lost just one of their last eight home games, the home side took the lead after 23 minutes, with Marcus Ingvartsen wading through a sea of Stuttgart defenders to tap a deflection on Wataro Endo.
Japan international Endo leveled things for Stuttgart late in the first half, finishing off a Mainz corner kick counter with a beautiful volley past a helpless Fin Dahmen into goal.
Fuehrich put up a goal for Guirassy midway through the second inning, before scoring one himself, the winger losing two defenders before curling in his fifth goal of the season.
Fuehrich then put in a fourth for Coulibaly in stoppage time, sealing a great Sunday for Stuttgart.
In Sunday’s late game, sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen can increase its chances of European football next season by winning at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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