Immobile strikes late, Dortmund ties Stuttgart

Dortmund's Ciro Immobile, left, scores during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart in Dortmund, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014. (Frank Augstein/AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany — Ciro Immobile scored a late equalizer as Borussia Dortmund came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Wednesday.

Stuttgart’s point in an encouraging display lifted the team from the bottom of the standings only hours after the club fired director of sports Fredi Bobic.

Bayer Leverkusen rose to second by edging Augsburg 1-0 in a match that was interrupted for seven minutes in the first half by a heavy storm.

Elsewhere, Hannover continued its best start to a season by beating Cologne 1-0 and Borussia Moenchengladbach sent Hamburger SV back to the bottom of the table with a 1-0 victory. Hertha Berlin notched its first win of the season by beating Wolfsburg 1-0.

Bayern Munich went top of the standings by defeating Paderborn 4-0 on Tuesday. Bayern has 11 points, while Leverkusen and Hannover are both on 10, with Leverkusen ahead on goal difference.

Daniel Didavi pounced on mistakes by Dortmund’s defence in either half to put the visiting team 2-0 up.

But the speedy Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rounded Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich in the 73rd to pull one back for Dortmund and Immobile equalized in the 86th after Ulreich’s mistimed exit.

"When you are up two goals, you should go home as the winner," Stuttgart coach Armin Veh said.

Shinji Kagawa had Dortmund’s best chances. In the first half, he controlled the ball with his chest before hooking a shot past Ulreich in one fluid motion but the ball hit the top of the crossbar. Kagawa’s header in the second half narrowly missed the target.

Dortmund is now eighth, four points behind Bayern, and has already conceded nine goals — "way too many," according to defender Mats Hummels.

In Leverkusen, Son Heung-min scored the only goal in the 33rd minute, before the match was interrupted by the storm five minutes later.

Max Kruse found the net for Moenchengladbach in the 25th, while Hamburg still has not scored a goal in its five league matches this season. The club slipped below Stuttgart in the standings, with both teams on two points.

Hamburg held Bayern to a 0-0 draw four days ago and was hoping for its first win under new coach Joe Zinnbauer.

Striker Joselu scored in the sixth minute for Hannover to hand Cologne its first defeat of the season.

Newly arrived Salomon Kalou scored in his first start for Hertha Berlin, driving home a powerful header in the 35th.

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