Robert Lewandowski celebrates after tapping home Marco Reus' cross Dortmund booked a rare win over Stuttgart to extend the title race by a round. Bayern destroyed Hamburg in Munich, but Dortmund's 2-1 victory earlier meant that the Bundesliga crown is not yet officially decided, Deutsche Welle reports. Dortmund don't have a good record against Stuttgart, and they began with a moderate surprise in their starting eleven. Kevin Grosskreutz – usually a winger – got a nod ahead of Lukasz Piszczek at right back. Perhaps coach Jürgen Klopp was resting the Polish defender ahead of Dortmund's Champions League quarterfinal against Malaga on Wednesday.
Stuttgart got off to the better start, and the visitors were lucky that an early Vedad Ibisevic goal was disallowed for offside. And Klopp was forced to bring on Piszczek in minute 24, when left back Marcel Schmelzer went off with a broken nose.
"It was a really intense match - for me too intense because some of the challenges were too hard," Klopp said afterward. "It was a good day for us except for the injury to Marcel Schmelzer."
It took a set piece for the still-champs to get going. Marco Reus curled in a free kick, and Piszczek headed it home. Dortmund's lead was slightly against the run of play.
After the break Stuttgart should have levelled things on a dangerous corner, but Mario Götze cleared twice off the line. At the hour mark, Alexandru Maxim angled a shot home after a throw-in to knot the score.
With twenty minutes left, the hosts shot themselves in the foot, when Georg Niedermeier saw a second yellow card and earned an early shower. Dortmund made their man advantage tell with just over five minutes left. Reus crossed in for Robert Lewandowski to tap home. The 2-1 win means that Dortmund hold steady in second place and rained on the parade in Munich.