COLOGNE (Germany): Prolific striker Erling Haaland continued his rich vein of form as he netted twice including a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw for Borussia Dortmund at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The result left fifth-placed Dortmund losing ground in the hunt for a top-four finish as they have 43 points from 26 games, four less than Eintracht Frankfurt in fourth who celebrated a 5-2 home win over Union Berlin.
Cologne stayed 14th on 23 points, two above the relegation spots.
Dortmund goalkeeper Marwin Hitz was disappointed with the outcome as the visitors allowed Cologne to turn the match on its head after Haaland struck a superb third-minute opener.
“We started really well and scored a nice first goal but then we disappeared,” said Hitz.
“We sat back and lost possession too many times so it was definitely not a good afternoon for us. It’s inexplicable that we made so many mistakes as we really needed to win this game.”
Left back Nico Schulz added: “We got too passive after taking the lead and we let Cologne back into the game. We needed to move the ball a lot better and we also weren’t active enough defensively.”
Haaland fired Dortmund ahead with a sublime finish as he took a long Emre Can ball in his stride and held off Jorge Mere’s challenge before he steered a low shot through the legs of goalkeeper Timo Horn from a tight angle.
Ondrej Duda levelled with a 35th-minute penalty as Noah Katterbach’s shot hit Jude Bellingham in the arm, with the spot kick given after a delayed VAR check.
With Dortmund rattled, Ismail Jacobs turned the tide as he capped a fast break with an unstoppable shot from 15 metres in the 65th minute before Haaland hit the post at the other end.
Just when it seemed Cologne would complete the league double over Dortmund having beaten them 2-1 in the reverse fixture, Haaland popped up in front of goal to bundle in a 90th-minute assist by Ansgar Knauff.