By Barry Whelan, dpa
Berlin (dpa) – Borussia Dortmund beat Bayern Munich 1-0 on Saturday to leave promoted RB Leipzig three points clear at the top of the German football Bundesliga.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted the only goal in the 11th minute to hand Bayern a first league defeat of the season and a first loss in the league since March.
Leipzig, who won 3-2 at Bayer Leverkusen on Friday, top the table on
27 points, with Bayern on 24 and Dortmund third on 21, level with Cologne and Hertha Berlin.
It is the first time in 14 months that Bayern have not been on top of the league after a weekend programme. Sunday’s two matches will not affect the top spot.
Cologne meanwhile snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hertha were goalless at Augsburg.
Dortmund, who were wearing black armbands following the death of former player Alfred «Aki» Schmidt, enjoyed their first home win over Bayern since April 2012. The record champions had meanwhile not been beaten in the league since a home defeat to Mainz on March 2.
Dortmund led from the 11th minute after former Bayern midfielder Mario Goetze crossed through the legs of former Dormund defender Mats Hummels for Aubameyang to stretch out his left leg and turn the ball over the line.
The Gabon striker celebrated his 12th league goal of the season by doing some press-ups before being embraced by team-mates.
Franck Ribery had a back-heeled goal disallowed after the break for offside as Bayern up the pressure, and Xabi Alonso curled a shot against the bar with keeper Roman Buerki a spectator.
But Aubameyang, who had missed two opportunities shortly after the break, had a golden chance to increase Dortmund’s lead when he was gifted the ball by Alonso on the half-way line.
The striker raced clear but his shot was too imprecise, allowing Manuel Neuer in goal to save. Bayern then came close to snatching a point when Robert Lewandowski headed narrowly wide in the third minute of stoppage time.
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said it was a «difficult» game, telling Sky TV: «I suffered during several phases but when you climb into the ring with Bayern you can’t think you will come out without a black eye.»
Hoffenheim could leapfrog Dortmund to go third if they win at home on Sunday against bottom side SV Hamburg, while Werder Bremen greet Eintracht Frankfurt in the day’s other game.
Elsewhere Saturday, struggling Wolfsburg slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Schalke, Mainz defeated Freiburg 4-2, while Ingolstadt won
1-0 at fellow strugglers Darmstadt for their first league victory of the season in Maik Walpurgis’ debut as coach.
In Moenchengladbach, the home side went in front in the Rhineland duel against Cologne through Lars Stindl in the 32nd minute but Anthony Modeste levelled on the hour.
The France striker’s goal was a little fortunate after defender Jannik Vestergaard got his head first to a long pass from Dominique Heintz but the ball came off the head of Modeste into goal.
The 90 minutes were up when Cologne substitute Salih Oezcan tapped a free-kick to Marcel Risse who let fly into the roof of the net from
30 metres.
Cologne coach Peter Stoeg said: «It was a difficult game against a team who showed what quality they have. The team gave everything you could expect.»
