Dortmund in 2nd after Union miss chance to top Bundesliga

Union Berlin missed a golden chance to dethrone Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga after being held to a goalless draw by bottom side Schalke on Sunday, and missed their position in second to Borussia Dortmund, who defeated Hertha Berlin 4-1.

Bayern were defeated 3-2 by Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, which paved the way for Union to take the top position in the standings.

But the capital club were not able to break the deadlock against Schalke as they dropped their first points in the league this year after winning all previous five 2023 Bundesliga games.

Union are now third, level on 43 points with both Bayern and Dortmund ahead of their meeting with the German record champions in Munich next weekend.

"Before the winter break, nobody expected it to be so close at the top of the table," Dortmund captain Marco Reus told broadcasters DAZN.

Union's best chance came in the 24th minute, but Danilho Doekhi was denied by a super save from Ralf Fährmann, who was also key in other moments of the game to secure Schalke a very precious point.

"We didn't have much confidence in ourselves when playing with the ball, we weren't brave enough," Union coach Urs Fischer said, while captain Christopher Trimmel admitted: "Today wasn't our best day."

Schalke's fourth consecutive goalless draw marked a Bundesliga record as they remain six points from safety.

But coach Thomas Reis still believe Schalke "are on a good path. You can see we've created something here."

The game in Dortmund was interrupted after just two minutes due to smoke from flares lighted up by Hertha fans, who saw their team have two good chances in quick succession denied by keeper Gregor Kobel.

But Karim Adeyemi broke the deadlock for Dortmund in the 27th and assisted Donyell Malen's goal just five minutes later. The striker, however, had to be replaced by Jamie Bynoe-Gittens due to an injury suffered as he set Malen up.

Hertha were quick to pull one back right after the break through Lucas Tousart, but their hopes to find an equalizer faded to dust after Reus from a free-kick and a late effort from Julian Brandt sealed the win for Dortmund.

"It's a nice feeling that we were able to extend our (winning) run, especially since the matchday worked well for us. We still have a long way to go, but the same applies to Union and Bayern," Brandt said.

A missed penalty in the first half cost Bayer Leverkusen dearly as they went down 3-2 to Mainz in a lively mid-table match.

Anthony Caci netted the opener for Mainz in the 26th, just minutes after Finn Dahmen saved Edmond Tapsoba's spot-kick.

The hosts were not behind for long as Nadiem Amiri found the equalizer in the 32nd, but Leandro Barreiro took the lead back for Mainz shortly before the break.

Patrik Schick's first goal since returning from a long-term injury was not enough to save Leverkusen a point as Marcus Ingvartsen didn't waste a late penalty to claim win for Mainz.