The two sides remain clear of rock-bottom Hannover while Eintracht Frankfurt sit just a point clear of danger after a 3-1 defeat to Cologne.
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Collecting Reus’s pass on the halfway line, Mkhitaryan drove confidently towards a backpedalling Hannover defence, darted in-field and sent a 25-yard effort arrowing beyond Zieler’s dive.
Dortmund, missing league top-scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang through injury, struggled to break down Hanover in a match which pitted the Bundesliga’s best attack against its second-worst defence.
Dortmund trail league leaders Bayern Munich by eight points, and Die Borussen can not afford any more slip ups if they are to have a chance of thwarting Pep Guardiola in his final season in Germany. The 28-year-old Nagelsmann is the youngest coach ever in the Bundesliga.
Despite Hoffenheim taking the lead on 10 minutes through Croatia striker Andrej Kramaric, Werder hit back three minutes later as former Chelsea defender Papy Djilobodji scored his first Bremen goal.
Bayer Leverkusen moved up from seventh to third as they bounced back from their shock German Cup exit at the hands of Werder Bremen in mid-week with a 2-1 comeback win at Darmstadt. The Ivory Coast midfielder scored with a powerful strike inside the far post after Alexandru Maxim brought a save from Rune Jarstein.
“It doesn’t have to end, it can keep going”, said Stuttgart coach Juergen Kramny, whose side climbed provisionally ninth after being bottom in mid-December.
But another moment of misfortune, this time by Darmstadt defender Aytac Sulu who headed into his own goal, allowed Leverkusen to level just after the hour before Julian Brandt snatched the victor in the 77th minute.
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Goals from Julian Draxler and Robin Knoche earned Wolfsburg a 2-0 win over Ingolstadt – their first Bundesliga win since November and an ideal warm-up for the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Gent on Thursday morning (AEDT).
