The Japan Times - Dortmund beat Gladbach to keep top-four hopes alive

Serhou Guirassy, who scored a hat-trick in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Barcelona, was again key, scoring one and setting up another for Dortmund.

After a testy opening, Ko Itakura put Gladbach ahead after 24 minutes, playing a simple one-two with Kevin Stoeger to unlock the Dortmund defence.

Dortmund hit back with three goals in nine minutes before half-time.

Chelsea loanee Carney Chukwuemeka threaded the ball to Pascal Gross whose lateral pass found Guirassy, who swept home.

Chukwuemeka again started the move down the right flank, his pass reaching Yan Couto who in turn found Felix Nmecha who scored a carbon copy of the opener.

Dortmund turned the screws. Daniel Svensson headed in a rebound from a Guirassy shot just before half-time.

The visitors hit back when Germany striker Tim Kleindienst was felled in the box by Nmecha, with Stoeger making no mistake from the spot.

Dortmund snuffed out the comeback however and now sit in seventh, four points off fourth place, having been as low as 11th.

Earlier on Sunday, an exhausted Eintracht Frankfurt fought to a scoreless draw at Augsburg, days after their Europa League quarter-final loss to Tottenham.

Augsburg, who have climbed the Bundesliga in the second-half of the season. were the better side but could not break down the heavy-legged visitors.

Augsburg peppered Frankfurt's goal from a series of corners to close the first-half but the visitors held firm.

The injection of Ansgar Knauff at half-time gave Frankfurt a boost and the former Borussia Dortmund winger went close on 70 minutes, only for Augsburg's Cedric Zesiger to deny him with a last-ditch intervention.

Despite the draw, Frankfurt tightened their grip on third, four points clear of fifth-placed Freiburg, and are on course for their highest league finish in three decades.

Finishing in the top four would mean Frankfurt qualify for the modern Champions League in just the second time in their history, with the first coming after winning the Europa League in 2022. They reached the final of the old European Cup in 1960.

The hard-fought draw continued Augsburg's remarkable record in the calendar year.

Augsburg have lost just one of their past 14 league games, conceding only seven goals in that run.

In the final match of the round, defending champions Bayer Leverkusen play at St Pauli.

Leverkusen sit nine points behind league leaders Bayern Munich with four games to play and need victory to keep their hopes alive of catching the Bavarians.

S.Fujimoto--JT