Erling Haaland back as Dortmund cut Bayern's lead

Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund is challenged by Andres Andrade of Arminia Bielefeld during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and DSC Arminia Bielefeld at Signal Iduna Park on March 13, 2022 in Dortmund, Germany.


Borussia Dortmund have reduced the gap to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to seven points with a 1-0 home win over Arminia Bielefeld.

Erling Haaland, linked heavily with a July move to Manchester City in the British media this weekend, was back in the squad for the first time in seven weeks due to injury.

But the Norway striker started on the bench and it was Marius Wolf who netted his second of the campaign from Thorgan Hazard's cross in the first half.

"It doesn't always have to be a spectacle," Wolf told reporters.

"I think we did our homework today. The most important thing is consistency."

Bayer Leverkusen's grip on a Champions League spot took a knock with a 1-0 home loss to local rivals Cologne.

However, the result was not the worst news for Leverkusen with teenage talisman Florian Wirtz suffering a torn ACL in his left knee which will rule him out for the remainder of the season.

The 18-year-old's exit on 28 minutes was already the second injury substitution for the hosts with Jeremie Frimpong going off.

Odilon Kossounou was also later injured.

It's a bitter afternoon for us with the three injuries and the defeat. We are extremely disappointed, coach Gerardo Seoane said.

Substitute Kingsley Schindler netted his first league goal in the 67th minute of the derby to lift Cologne to seventh and leave third-placed Leverkusen with just a point's cushion in the top four.

With eight games left, RB Leipzig moved back into fourth on goal difference from Freiburg and Hoffenheim with a 6-1 romp at bottom side Greuther Furth.

The hosts took a surprise lead through Jamie Leweling but in-form Leipzig roared back thanks to Andre Silva, Emil Forsberg, Konrad Laimer, Benjamin Henrichs, Mohamed Simakan and Christopher Nkunku.

Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind to beat fellow mid-table side Bochum 2-1.

Meanwhile, Hertha Berlin responded to being plunged into the relegation zone by firing coach Tayfun Korkut after just three months in charge and replacing him with Felix Magath.

The Berliners lost 2-0 away to Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday to extend their winless run to nine league games, with the past five all losses.

They are 17th, below Stuttgart who are in the relegation/promotion play-off spot on goal difference.

Magath led Bayern Munich to a league and cup double in 2005 and 2006 before helping Wolfsburg to a shock Bundesliga title in 2009.

He had less successful spells at Schalke and again at Wolfsburg until 2012 and was last in Europe with an ill-fated spell at England's Fulham in 2014 before working in China.

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