Dortmund Stunned at Home with 3-Goal Comeback from Bremen

Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
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Dortmund Stunned at Home with 3-Goal Comeback from Bremen

Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 20, 2022 Werder Bremen team members celebrate after the match. (Reuters)

Borussia Dortmund conceded three late goals from the 89th minute to lose 3-2 to Werder Bremen in its first Bundesliga defeat of the season on Saturday.

Scottish forward Oliver Burke scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of injury time, two minutes after Niklas Schmidt had equalized. English defender Lee Buchanan started the remarkable comeback when he scored in the 89th for the promoted visitors.

Dortmund, which was outplayed for much of the game, looked on course to win 2-0 thanks to speculative goals from Julian Brandt in first-half injury time and Raphaël Guerreiro in the 77th. They were the home team’s first and second shots on target.

Dortmund’s much-vaunted offense looked short of ideas against Bremen, who had the best chances of the first half through Marvin Ducksch, back at his hometown club.

But Brandt scored just before the break, when the Bremen-born midfielder eluded a couple of defenders just outside the penalty area before shooting inside the far post.

Bremen remained the better side, having a penalty appeal waved away before Niko Schlotterbeck made a crucial block to deny Anthony Jung.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzić reacted with three substitutions with 30 minutes remaining, among them American Gio Reyna, who came on for his first competitive appearance since April 8, when he reinjured his right hamstring after less than two minutes in Stuttgart.

Guerreiro’s goal was another long-range effort. Bremen 'keeper Jiri Pavlenka wasn’t helped with his own defenders blocking his view.

Buchanan began Bremen’s comeback amid some indecisive defending and the visitors pushed on in injury time.

Bayer Leverkusen slumped to its third consecutive Bundesliga loss – after being knocked out in the first round of the German Cup – when sharp-shooting Hoffenheim racked up a 3-0 win.

Christoph Baumgartner scored early with his heel when he was one of two Hoffenheim players facing seven Leverkusen defenders, Andrej Kramaric made-2-0 in the 35th and Georginio Rutter scored with a brilliant shot from distance in the 78th.

Leverkusen hadn’t played badly and the home team’s afternoon was summarized when Kerem Demirbay hit the post with a free kick.

Schalke forward Simon Teerode squandered two penalty opportunities in a 0-0 draw in Wolfsburg.

Koen Casteels saved Teerode’s first effort, but the Schalke forward was given another chance as the Wolfsburg ’keeper had moved off his line. Casteels then also saved the next effort – within the rules this time.

Vincenzo Grifo’s early goal was enough for Freiburg to win in Stuttgart 1-0, and Mainz won 2-1 in Augsburg.

Union Berlin was hosting Leipzig later.



Bagnaia Wins Japanese Grand Prix Sprint after Leader Acosta Crashes

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Bagnaia Wins Japanese Grand Prix Sprint after Leader Acosta Crashes

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix sprint on Saturday after leader Pedro Acosta crashed out with four laps to go, reducing his gap with championship leader Jorge Martin, who finished fourth, to 15 points.

Rookie Acosta, who took pole earlier in the day, had overtaken Bagnaia on the third lap to take the lead, but lost control near turn seven, losing the opportunity to win his first MotoGP sprint.

Ducati's Bagnaia, who moved to 357 points ahead of Sunday's race, fought off second-placed Enea Bastianini by 0.181 seconds amid occasional rains in Motegi to win his 16th sprint of the season.

"We had to sacrifice a bit of performance during the race to understand the conditions better... I'm very happy because with this condition it's not very easy to win," Bagnaia said in his post-sprint interview.

Pramac Racing's Martin, who started from the 11th position on the grid after crashing during the qualifying session, started well to take the fifth position in the first lap, facing pressure from Marc Marquez, who eventually overtook him.

Marquez momentarily took second place from Bastianini but the Ducati rider recovered to leave him third.

LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami crashed out of his home grand prix sprint after a collision with teammate Johann Zarco, while Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder, sixth in the championship, quit due to an issue with his bike.

"We´re investigating what happened to cause Brad Binder's sprint to come to a premature end," the team wrote on X. "For now, all we can do is apologize to Brad."