Dortmund leave it late in Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg - Marco Reus scored twice in three second-half minutes as Borussia Dortmund came back from two behind to secure a 3-3 draw away at VfL Wolfsburg and with it second place in the Bundesliga.
Back with a bang
A first-half brace from Dortmund old boy Ivan Perisic and a sixth league goal of the season for Naldo looked to have rendered Sven Bender's early opener obsolete, but Dortmund, and Reus in particular, showed just the sort of fighting spirit they will be hoping to take into the UEFA Champions League final in two weeks' time.
The Wolfsburg faithful bade a fond farewell to outgoing trio Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Alexander Madlung and Marwin Hitz prior to kick-off, but the gala atmosphere wasn’t to last long. A move born on the training ground, Dortmund’s Reus squared a quick free kick to Nuri Sahin, whose angled cross was touched home by Bender to put the visitors in front with little under five minutes on the clock.
A moment of brilliance from Makoto Hasebe quickly turned the game on its head, though, the Japan international cutting the Dortmund defence in two with a slide-rule pass to savour, allowing Ivica Olic to roll across goal for Perisic, who made no mistake from close range. Clearly with a point to prove against his former employers, the Croat struck again moments later, his effort taking a huge deflection that left visiting goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller rooted to the spot and the Yellow-Blacks running scared.
Calamitous defending
Another wobble in the back four put a third goal on a plate for the Wolves in the 26th minute, with Naldo the beneficiary on this occasion, bringing a trademark Diego corner under wraps and smashing into the bottom corner. Their defensive organisation verging on the slapstick, Dortmund almost fell further behind when Felipe Santana headed against his own goal frame, before Olic left Mats Hummels in his wake and shot narrowly wide.
Dismayed, Dortmund boss Jürgen Klopp threw on Jakub Blaszczykowski and Julian Schieber at the start of the second half, but 23-goal Robert Lewandowski was unable to make the most of a rare moment of invention involving the two Dortmund substitutes.
Reus at the double
Unnerved, Wolfsburg were soon back on the goals trail themselves, with Jan Polak taking an age to get his shot off after good work from Olic and Perisic firing past the post following another promising break. The withdrawal of Wolfsburg's two-goal hero was met with rapturous applause, and the decibel levels reached a new high when Reus pounced to reduce the arrears with six minutes to go.
Reminiscent of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Malaga CF, Dortmund had the bit between their teeth, with Reus suddenly looking very interested. And just like that, Dortmund were back on level terms as Reus smashed home via the crossbar to rescue an unlikely point for Klopp's indefatigable Bundesliga runners-up.
Line-ups and statistics
Christopher Mayer-Lodge
