Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund's title chances suffered a serious blow on Friday after they stumbled to a 1-1 draw at struggling VfL Bochum in the mini Ruhr derby with four games left to play.
2022/2023 Bundesliga
1-1
Match Report
Dortmund are on 61 points, two points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich, who will take over the lead if they beat bottom club Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
Dortmund looked far from serious contenders, chasing their first Bundesliga title in 11 years.
The visitors found themselves 1-0 down after five minutes following Anthony Losilla's thunderous strike from just outside the box from the Bochum skipper.
Yet Bochum's joy only lasted two minutes as unmarked Karim Adeyemi tapped in at the far post for the equaliser following a cross from Donyell Malen.
But the goal failed to inject any sense of urgency into Dortmund's game, with coach Terzic desperately shouting on from the sidelines.
Dortmund did however create several chances in the first half as they chased a second goal, with Adeyemi twice missing good opportunities.
However, the brilliant Manuel Riemann stood firm between the sticks for the side now just three points above the relegation zone.
Striker Philipp Hoffmann spurned a golden opportunity to stun Dortmund once more just before the break, but skewed his shot wide of Gregor Kobel's left post after the ball find him in space inside the box.
Bochum made life difficult for the visitors throughout in a well-contested Ruhr derby clash.
Dortmund's best chances in the second half only came after the introduction of Marco Reus in the 73rd minute, with the midfielder setting up Youssoufa Moukoko, but his effort was parried by Bochum keeper Riemann.
Riemann pulled off an even better save in the 76th to deny Jude Bellingham before Malen, who had scored in the previous five games, sent the ball just wide with a sensational back-heel.
Mats Hummels had the ball in the back of the net in the 90th minute as the visitors pushed to keep their Bundesliga fate in their own hands, but it was rightly ruled out for offside.
Several dortmund players surrounded referee Sasha Stegemann, with Edin Terzic particularly irate and receiving a yellow late in the game for dissent.
In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Bellingham again had an opportunity to grab the winner, but skewed his header just wide of the mark.
Dortmund eventually ran out of time and will have to wait for Sunday's result in Munich to find out how their title chances look.
Line-ups
Bochum XI: Riemann, Gamboa, Losilla, Danilo, Ivan Ordets, Kevin Stöger, Philipp Hofmann, Asano, Erhan Masovic, Christopher Antwi-Adjei, Patrick Osterhage
Subs: Michael Esser, Zoller, Vasilios Lampropoulos, K.Stafylidis, D.Heintz, Holtmann, Saidy Janko, Pierre Kunde, Moritz Broschinski
Dortmund XI: Hummels, Emre Can, Guerreiro, Haller, Sule, Brandt, Gregor Kobel, Julian Ryerson, Donyell Malen, Karim Adeyemi, Jude Bellingham
Subs: Anthony Modeste, Reus, Alexander Meyer, Wolf, Özcan, Antonios Papadopoulos, Reyna, Youssoufa Moukoko, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens