Dortmund close in on Bayern thanks to Reus double at Bremen

BERLIN (Reuters) – Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus scored twice in a 3-1 victory at Werder Bremen on Saturday to put them within five points of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich while Borussia Moenchengladbach continued their sensational winning run with a 4-1 demolition of Hertha Berlin.

Reus, back in top form after an injury-hit start to the season, netted a double for the second consecutive week to take his league goal tally to seven.

Dortmund are in second place on 26 points, five behind Bayern, who dropped their first points of the season after 10 straight wins with a goalless draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.

“In football you have to be patient and believe in yourself,” said Reus, who had struggled for form initially this season before a fractured toe ruled him out for a few weeks. “But I have great team mates who helped me. I always believed in myself and continued to work hard.”

Germany international Reus put the visitors ahead in the ninth minute before Anthony Ujah slotted in from a goalmouth scramble to level in the 32nd.

Dortmund central defender Mats Hummels provided a sublime assist, curling the ball with the outside of his right foot to the far post for Henrikh Mkhitaryan who headed in for the lead a minute from halftime.

Striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should have scored at least two more for Dortmund early in the second half but wasted golden opportunities before Reus was picked out by Mikhitaryan, who also set up two goals, to fire in from a tight angle for Dortmund’s third consecutive victory.

Gladbach’s sensational recovery continued with their win at Hertha Berlin, their sixth consecutive victory under interim coach Andre Schubert after they lost their first five matches of the competition.

Gladbach, who struck twice in two minutes with Oscar Wendt and Raffael, have climbed from last place just over a month ago to fifth on 18 points, making a permanent deal for Schubert all but inevitable.

Granit Xhaka scored Gladbach’s third from a penalty in the 54th minute with Alexander Baumjohann cutting the deficit late in the game before the visitors sealed their win with Havard Nordtveit’s shot in stoppage time.

VfL Wolfsburg leapfrogged into third after needing a clear offside goal to take the lead against Bayer Leverkusen in their 2-1 victory.

Vieirinha was three metres ahead of the defenders when Andre Schuerrle slipped the ball through and the linesman lifted his flag but the referee indicated play on, assuming the ball had come from the feet of a defender, allowing Nicklas Bendtner to drill in from the Portuguese’s assist.

The visitors levelled with a diving Javier Hernandez header before substitutes Bas Dost and Julian Draxler, who had come on three minutes earlier, combined in the 77th minute for the latter to tap in the winner.

Wolfsburg climb to 21 points, five behind Dortmund, with their third straight win while Leverkusen, who hit the post with Wendell’s late free kick, drop to seventh on 17.

Schalke 04 stumbled to a 1-1 draw against promoted Ingolstadt to slip to fourth, having won just one of their last four matches.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Clare Fallon and Ken Ferris)