Dortmund draw, Eintracht rout nine-man Hoffenheim

NUREMBERG, Germany (AFP) –

Dortmund’s midfielder Ivan Perisic (R) and Nuremberg’s striker Robert Mak fight for the ball during their German first division Bundesliga football match in Nuremberg, southern Germany. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Champions Borussia Dortmund had to come from behind to draw 1-1 at Nuremberg on Saturday, while promoted Eintracht Frankfurt routed nine-man Hoffenheim 4-0 to top the Bundesliga table.

With Bayern Munich hosting VfB Stuttgart on Sunday at the Allianz Arena, Dortmund had to settle for a point in Franconia after a lively performance from Nuremberg.

“I had the impression that we had more of the game, especially in the first half, which I liked, but we were missing the final punch,” admitted Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.

“We didn’t play enough in the last third and when we did, we were too hurried.

“I wasn’t happy with the referee, it’s not easy when everything is whistled away,” he added.

Dortmund fell behind when the home side’s Czech Republic striker Tomas Pekhart rose highest at the far post and headed past goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller on 31 minutes.

The champions responded nine minutes later with the equaliser when Ivan Perisic’s shot clipped the crossbar and Poland captain Jakub Blaszczykowski — known as Kuba for short — fired home.

Dortmund defender Mats Hummels had a chance cleared off the line in the second half but, having won the Bundesliga title for the last two seasons, the champions do not look as smooth in attack as they have over the past two years.

Schalke’s midfielder Jermaine Jones plays the ball during their German first division Bundesliga football match against Augsburg in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany. Schalke won the match 3-1.

Elsewhere, newly-promoted Frankfurt backed up last Saturday’s 2-1 win at home to Bayer Leverkusen with a 4-0 hammering of Hoffenheim, as the hosts finished with nine men.

“I would be disappointed if we aren’t German champions now,” Frankfurt coach Armin Veh — who led Stuttgart to the title in 2007 — quipped with his side top of the league after two matches.

Midfielder Alexander Meier scored Frankfurt’s opening goal at the Rhein-Neckar Arena before Pirmin Schwegler added a second just before the interval.

Hoffenheim had midfielder Sejad Salihovic sent off on 70 minutes for two quick bookings, and Philippines defender Stephan Schroeck followed after he was shown his second yellow card three minutes later.

The hosts’ misery was compounded when Meier netted his second with a late penalty before Martin Lanig headed the fourth at the death.

Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who has rejoined Hamburg from Tottenham Hotspur, could only watch as his new teammates lost 2-0 at Werder Bremen in the north German derby.

Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler saved a first-half penalty from Bremen’s Aaron Hunt, but the midfielder made no mistake with his second spot-kick seven minutes after the break when striker Nils Petersen was fouled in the area.

Petersen, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, then doubled Bremen’s lead with a goal on 67 minutes.

Leverkusen’s Daniel Carvajal (top), Stefan Kiessling (C) and Lars Bender (R) celebrate with Gonzalo Castro (hidden) after scoring during their German first division Bundesliga football match against Freiburg in Leverkusen, western Germany. Leverkusen won 2-0.

Having turned down a move to Zenit St Petersburg in midweek, Greek centre-back Kyriakos Papadopoulos opened the scoring for Schalke in their 3-1 win at home to Augsburg with a 33rd-minute header.

US midfielder Jermaine Jones netted the Royal Blues’ second just a minute after the restart.

Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, last season’s Bundesliga top scorer, headed the third 18 minutes from time while Augsburg pulled back a late consolation goal through Torsten Oehrl.

Dutch winger Ibrahim Afellay, who Schalke have signed on a season-long loan from Barcelona, made his debut in the dying stages.

Leverkusen got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win at home to Freiburg thanks to goals in each half from Gonzalo Castro and defender Philipp Wollscheid.

Fortuna Duesseldorf held Borussia Moenchengladbach to a goalless draw in Saturday’s late game.

On Sunday, Wolfsburg and Hannover clash before Bayern, who signed Spain’s Javi Martinez for 40 million euros ($50.3m) from Athletic Bilbao on Thursday, take on Stuttgart.