Fullkrug denies Dortmund fifth straight Bundesliga win with late Bremen equaliser

Niclas Fullkrug scored a stoppage-time header against his former club as Werder Bremen fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund and prevent the hosts from matching a club record with a fifth successive Bundesliga victory.

Dortmund had made an impressive start to the season, raising hopes among their supporters of lifting the Meisterschale in May. They faced a Bremen side showing signs of improvement after finishing 15th last term.

Niko Kovac’s team controlled much of the first half, although Marcel Sabitzer’s early attempt cleared the crossbar. Werder looked dangerous on the counter-attack but lost Amos Pieper to injury, with Oskar Wojcik coming on in his place.

The opening period was slow to develop, with neither side managing a shot on target during the first 41 minutes. Dortmund were expected to take the initiative, but Ludovit Reis provided a warning when his angled effort went narrowly wide of the far post.

Sabitzer then came close to breaking the deadlock when his free-kick struck the stanchion behind the goal. Shortly afterwards, Karl Hein produced an excellent one-handed save to keep out Maximilian Beier as half-time approached.

Dortmund increased the pressure after the interval. Hein was required twice to deal with difficult deflected efforts from Nico Schlotterbeck and Ethan Nwaneri, while Beier and Nwaneri both threatened again.

Fullkrug nearly punished his former club at the other end, but Gregor Kobel denied him from close range. Hein remained the busier goalkeeper and made another fine stop to repel Nwaneri’s effort.

Nwaneri thought he had gone close to putting Dortmund ahead after following up Serhou Guirassy’s header, but his spectacular overhead kick was ruled out for an infringement inside the penalty area.

The hosts then scored on the counter-attack. Guirassy carried the ball down the right before sending it into the area, where Fabio Silva’s scuffed effort fell for Daniel Svensson to slide in and finish.

The goal marked Svensson’s 50th Bundesliga appearance. Five minutes later, Dortmund doubled their advantage when Schlotterbeck headed in from Joey Veerman’s corner.

Werder were handed a way back into the match in the 88th minute when a misplaced pass from Schlotterbeck was intercepted. Reis took advantage, firing an impressive finish past Kobel.

Dortmund appeared set to hold on, but Fullkrug completed Bremen’s comeback with his fourth goal in as many Bundesliga matches. He powered a header beyond Kobel from Marco Grull’s floated delivery.

The draw means Werder have recovered from 2-0 down to avoid defeat in three of their past five visits to Dortmund. BVB, meanwhile, missed the opportunity to win their opening five league games for the first time since 2015/16.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund).