BREMEN, GERMANY – Claudio Pizarro came off the bench to complete the comeback for Werder Bremen who all but ended Borussia Dortmund’s title hopes with a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon.
Pizarro levelled the game in the 75th minute when Ludwig Augustinsson kept the ball in play and cut it back to the German who smashed home from close range.
It was another substitute who scored when Kevin Mohwald pulled one back for the hosts when his shot went through Burki’s legs in the 70th minute.
Christian Pulisic opened the scoring just five minutes into the game when the American ran through the heart of the Bremen defence before tucking the ball past Jiri Pavlenka into the bottom right corner.
The goal was his third of the Bundesliga season.
Mario Gotze came close to doubling the lead in the 13th minute but his effort that went across the net was tipped wide by the Czech Republic international.
Milot Rashica had the host’s best chance of the first half when his long-range attempt went inches over the crossbar, but didn’t trouble Roman Burki too much.
Paco Alcacer doubled the lead in the 40th minute from a free kick that found the top right corner; making it six goals in six games and his 18th of the season.
Abdou Diallo had a chance to get a third on the stroke of halftime but he missed the open net, Pulisic had a follow-up chance but Pavlenka made a good stop.
Dortmund went into the break with a 2-0 lead and limited Bremen to zero shots on target in the opening 45 minutes.
The second half started off well for the visitors; former Werder Bremen midfielder Thomas Delaney had a good chance but his curling effort was tipped over the bar.
Alcacer thought he had made it 3-0 but was ruled offside.
Both sides had late chances with the game going end-to-end, but neither team could find a winner.
The hosts remain winless in four games and are ninth with two games left, four points back of Hoffenheim who they face next weekend.
Borussia Dortmund are on 70 points now, four behind league leaders Bayern Munich and will host Fortuna Dusseldorf next Saturday.
Pierre's Footy Talk 