Hoffenheim (Germany), Dec 17 (IANS): Ten-man Dortmund secured a 2-2 draw against hosts Hoffenheim as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang provided the equaliser at the 15th round of the Bundesliga football league here.
Hoffenheim on Friday were unable to defend their lead twice against 10-man Dortmund, who bounced back twice thanks to the goals from German international Mario Goezte and Gabon star Aubameyang, reports Xinhua.
The hosts grabbed a bright start into the fast-paced encounter as Mark Uth capitalised on a long ball from Benjamin Huebner to round Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller only two minutes into the game.
Dortmund remained unimpressed by the early setback and responded in the 11th minute through Goezte, who slotted home Ousmane Dembele's square pass at the edge of the box.
Hoffenheim had the chance to ensure the lead again but Kerem Demirbay was unable to overcome goalkeeper Weidenfeller. However, Sandro Wagner cut a better figure in front of Dortmund's goal as the striker headed home an effort on target to make it 2-1 on 20 minutes.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors before the break, as Marco Reus received his marching order after booking his second yellow card in the 41st minute at the Rhein-Neckar Arena.
The second half saw Dortmund recover as top striker Aubameyang benefited on a through ball from Dembele to level the scores from inside the box in the 48th minute.
However, Aubameyang missed the target from promising position moments later. Hoffenheim increased their efforts in the closing period but neither Jeremy Toljan nor Andrej Kramaric were able to beat custodian Weidenfeller for the decider.
With the draw, Julian Nagelsmann-coached Hoffenheim moved from the fourth to third place, while Thomas Tuchel-coached Dortmund climbed from the sixth to the fifth spot.
After the match Tuchel told his club's website bvb.de/eng: "The reaction that we subsequently showed to all those things that were going against us was, I think, extraordinary. We had more shots than Hoffenheim. In the half-time interval we resolved that we wouldn't leave here tonight without any points.
"We wanted to fight with everything we had to stop that from happening. I think you could really sense that. For that I think the team deserves a huge compliment. I feel that given the unlucky way in which the match developed for us, we deserved to take a point home."
According to Dortmund's website, Nagelsmann admitted that he "wouldn't have given the second yellow card for Reus".