Borussia Dortmund substitute Anthony Modeste scored in the last minute of injury time against Bayern Munich to salvage a dramatic 2-2 draw in the Bundesliga's Klassiker'. (More Football News)
The French forward set up Youssoufa Moukoko for the equalizer in the 74th then clinched what felt like a winning goal in the 95th when he headed in Nico Schlotterbeck's cross from close range.
There was only supposed to be four minutes of additional time. Leon Goretzka and Leroy Sané scored with the visitors' first two shots on target to put Bayern on track for its eighth consecutive league win over its main rival. Jamal Musiala set up both goals.
But Modeste's equalizer denied Bayern top spot, and kept Dortmund level on points with the Bavarian powerhouse after nine rounds.
Just minutes before, Modeste looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up after missing a huge chance to equalize. It seemed easier to score as he somehow mishit Karim Adeyemi's perfectly placed cross from close range and allowed Bayern's Manuel Neuer to avert the danger.
“Sometimes we think the simplest goals are the most difficult,” Modeste said of his missed chance. “I had to score. But in the end, I believed in myself.” Dortmund's fortunes changed in a hard-fought game when coach Edin Terzic sent on Modeste with 20 minutes remaining. At that stage the team was headed for its fourth defeat from nine games.
Modeste set up the 17-year-old Moukoko's third goal of the season and went on to be swarmed by teammates when he scored the late equalizer.
Bayern's Kingsley Coman was sent off in the 90th minute with his second yellow card, but the visitors complained that Jude Bellingham should have been sent off at the end of the first half when he caught Alphonso Davies in the face with his foot.
Bellingham, who was already on a yellow card, was going for the ball and referee Deniz Aytekin gave the 19-year-old England star the benefit of the doubt. Davies was taken off with suspected concussion.
XABI ALONSO'S COACHING DEBUT
The biggest ever win for a Leverkusen coach on his Bundesliga debut. Xabi Alonso steered Bayer Leverkusen to 4-0 over Schalke in his top-level coaching debut, the team earning just its second league win.
“I'm very satisfied. We wanted to play a good game and I think the players enjoyed it,” said Alonso, who had only two days to work with the team. “I'm satisfied, but it's only one game, we have to keep going. We have to work hard every day.”
Moussa Diaby scored one goal and set up two more for Leverkusen to move out of the relegation zone with its first league victory since the end of August.
Alonso – a former midfield maestro who won top honors with Spain, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – was appointed on Wednesday when Leverkusen fired Gerardo Seoane, who oversaw a 2-0 loss at Porto in the Champions League the night before.
The Leverkusen players were clearly keen to impress their new coach on Saturday. And he was very engaged on the sideline, using an early break in play to hurriedly instruct individual players.
Sky TV counted him sitting for only 114 seconds in the whole game. “For me, the most important thing was that the players felt what we want to do, how we want to play. For sure, it's early days, but we're happy today and now we'll review and analyze for the next game,” Alonso said in a mixture of German and English.
Leverkusen next plays Porto for their return game on Wednesday. Bochum won its first game of the season by 3-0 at home over Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz held Leipzig to 1-1 and Wolfsburg drew at Augsburg 1-1.
