'Extremely Bitter' as Dortmund Hand Bayern Title Advantage

Dortmund midfielder Emre Can signals to the referee in his side's match away at Bochum on Friday. INA FASSBENDER / AFP
Dortmund midfielder Emre Can signals to the referee in his side's match away at Bochum on Friday. INA FASSBENDER / AFP
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'Extremely Bitter' as Dortmund Hand Bayern Title Advantage

Dortmund midfielder Emre Can signals to the referee in his side's match away at Bochum on Friday. INA FASSBENDER / AFP
Dortmund midfielder Emre Can signals to the referee in his side's match away at Bochum on Friday. INA FASSBENDER / AFP

Borussia Dortmund handed the advantage in the Bundesliga title race back to Bayern Munich on Friday after being held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Bochum.

Bochum, who sit one spot and just two points above the relegation zone, scored after just five minutes, Anthony Losilla unleashing a screamer from outside the box, said AFP.

Dortmund hit back immediately, Germany forward Karim Adeyemi tapping in after a length-of-the-field team move to make it 1-1.

With the match winding down, Adeyemi looked to have won a penalty for the visiting side when brought down in the box by Danilo Soares, but the referee waved the incident away.

Dortmund were camped in the Bochum penalty area in the final minutes and had the ball in the net through Mats Hummels, but the linesman's flag went up immediately, with the defender standing half a meter offside.

Bayern can go one point clear in their bid for an 11th straight title by winning at home against last-placed Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

Dortmund manager Edin Terzic lamented the "extremely bitter" result as his side had a "rare chance to be so close to the championship."

Terzic said the referee's failure to check the Adeyemi penalty incident was "a key scene" in the draw, revealing to broadcaster DAZN "I begged him to look at it."

His Bochum counterpart Thomas Letsch toasted "the style and manner the team fought" saying "that's what we need in a relegation battle."

Disappointed Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel said his side "had the title in our own hands, but couldn't make the most of it."

"We need to look forward, keep fighting and win our next game."

Dortmund came into the match knowing a win would send them four points clear.

But they arrived winless in their last five away matches in all competitions and faced a Bochum side kept out of the relegation places due to their strong home form.

Bochum made the most of a nervy start from the visitors, Losilla latching onto a poor Dortmund clearance to rocket the ball across Gregor Kobel and into the top left of the net.

Terzic booked

Dortmund hit back 90 seconds later, Hummels curling a long pass to winger Donyell Malen on the right flank, who slipped his defender and sent the ball across.

Striker Sebastien Haller got a toe to the pass, guiding it into the path of Adeyemi, who tapped it in to level the scores.

Midway through the second half, Adeyemi went down in the box under heavy attention from Soares, but the referee waved the incident away without checking the VAR monitor.

With time winding down, Edin Terzic brought on fresh legs, including captain Marco Reus and teenage striker Youssoufa Moukoko.

Moukoko, who scored a brace when the two sides met earlier in the season, almost had an immediate impact, forcing a reflex save from Manuel Riemann.

Riemann saved Bochum again less than a minute later, getting an outstretched hand to a curling shot from English teenager Jude Bellingham.

With one minute remaining, Hummels sent the visiting fans into raptures when he headed the ball into the goal, but his effort was chalked out for offside, a decision which will be celebrated in the Bavarian capital.

Terzic remonstrated with the referee, who went over to the sideline to explain the decision to the Dortmund boss, giving the protesting coach a yellow card in the process.



Just Frustration: Piastri Explains Radio Cursing at Alpine

Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)
Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)
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Just Frustration: Piastri Explains Radio Cursing at Alpine

Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)
Second-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia poses on the podium with his trophy after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, 29 June 2025. (EPA)

McLaren's Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri said cursing at former employers Alpine over the radio at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix was just a humorous way of expressing his frustration.

The Australian made a comment after having to go off track to avoid Renault-owned Alpine's Argentine driver Franco Colapinto.

"Alpine still managed to find a way to (expletive) me over all these years later, huh?," he told race engineer Tom Stallard in an exchange not broadcast on television at the time.

Piastri told Reuters at a McLaren fan event in London's Trafalgar Square on Wednesday that his swearing had just been spur of the moment.

"It was just kind of a frustrating coincidence. My qualifying got hampered by an Alpine. I got impeded in the race by both the Alpines. So, it was kind of just a build-up of a few things," he said. "And it was more out of frustration.

"I still have a lot of friends at Alpine. A lot of people that I respect a lot.

"It was just kind of an ironic coincidence that the things that hampered me a bit in the weekend were all with Alpine. But, yeah -- more just me trying to express my humor and frustration in the race."

Piastri joined McLaren after being named by Alpine as their driver for 2023, only for the Australian to very publicly reject the seat with a statement that has become part of Formula One lore.

Then Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer questioned the driver's integrity, and threatened legal action, but McLaren won easily when the matter went to the contract recognition board.

Alpine are now last in the championship, and are still going through turmoil, while McLaren won the constructors' title last year and are runaway favorites again.