Leverkusen salvage Dortmund draw to stay unbeaten

Newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen extended their record unbeaten run to 45 games after securing a late 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund thanks to Josip Stanisic's last-gasp equalizer on Sunday.

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (back) of Borussia Dortmund vies with Granit Xhaka of Bayer 04 Leverkusen during the first division of Bundesliga football match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Dortmund, Germany, April 21, 2024. (Photo by Joachim Bywaletz/Xinhua)

Leverkusen took the reins from the start and came close through Jeremie Frimpong, who pulled wide twice in the opening stages.

The spectators had to wait until the closing stages of the first half as Alejandro Grimaldo narrowly missed the target in quick succession, while Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky had to show a quick reflex to deny Marcel Sabizter's dangerous shot from the edge of the box.

Both sides staged a slow start again after the restart, but Gregor Kobel had to be on guard to defuse the promising efforts from Grimaldo and Nathan Tella.

However, Dortmund broke the deadlock in the 81st minute when Sabitzer's cross into the box found Niklas Fullkrug, who volleyed past Hradecky from close range.

It looked like the Werkself would suffer its first defeat of the season, but Xabi Alonso's boys had the last laugh and flabbergasted Dortmund with the equalizer after Stanisic nodded home Florian Wirtz's corner kick in the last action of the match.

"It was a game with only a few goalscoring opportunities. It wasn't the best performance by both teams. The draw feels like a defeat and a loss of two points as we took the lead very late," commented Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.

"We didn't want to lose. We played well and didn't deserve to lose here today. The late goals are always very emotional," said Alonso.

In other matches, third-placed Stuttgart missed the chance to stay on Bayern Munich's heel as Marvin Ducksch's brace secured Werder Bremen a 2-1 victory over the Swabians, and Mainz shared the spoils with Freiburg at 1-1.