Borussia Dortmund scored three times in the last minutes to rally from a goal down and beat 10-man Hoffenheim 3-1 on Sunday, allowing them to maintain their lone pursuit of runaway leaders Bayern Munich.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Adrian Ramos and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completed the hosts' dramatic late comeback, lifting them to 54 points, eight points behind champions Bayern who moved to 62 with a 2-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Yet Dortmund only fashioned their victory after Hoffenheim's Sebastian Rudy had turned from hero, with his 25th minute goal, to villain, with his sending off 12 minutes after halftime.
Dortmund went behind when Rudy pounced on a weak save from keeper Roman Buerki to drill in from close range.
Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scores.Credit: Martin Meissner
Striker Kevin Volland almost doubled the visitors' lead three minutes later but this time Buerki stood his ground to save his powerful shot.
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel brought on playmaker Ilkay Guendogan after the break and he nearly scored within three minutes of his introduction, rattling the post after dribbling past three opponents.
Rudy then brought down the charging Aubameyang in the centre circle and was shown a straight red card.
It was a signal for Dortmund to increase their pressure but they had to wait until the 80th minute to make their advantage count with Guendogan sending Armenian Mkhitaryan through to equalise.
Shinji Kagawa on the attack for Dortmund.Credit: Paulo Duarte
Colombian Ramos, who had come on in the 74th minute, made it 2-1 five minutes from time, heading in a superb Lukasz Piszczek cross before Aubameyang grabbed his 22nd goal of the campaign with a stoppage-time tap-in.
Borussia Moenchengladbach moved up to fourth place despite a 2-2 draw at Augsburg while Bayer Leverkusen's European hopes suffered a setback with a 3-1 loss at Mainz that saw them drop to sixth on 35 points, one behind their opponents.
Hertha Berlin are third on 39 points following Friday's 1-0 win at Cologne.
Reuters