Leverkusen and Dortmund met as the late kick off on a fine Spring evening at the Bayer Arena, and they treated the spectators to a feast of costless-flowing football. In a game that really lived up to the bill, both sides created many chances and came away another point closer to their final position in the Bundesliga.
Bayer were hoping to continue their 100% record under interim manager Sascha Lewandowski, and with the news breaking that Roger Schmidt is set to take over the club next season, they had a lot to play for. They started quickly, and in the sixth minute Lars Bender was on hand to force home a rebound after Kießling's header had struck the crossbar. However, they failed to capitalise after the goal, and Dortmund began to dominate proceedings.
They were rewarded for this sustained period of pressure when midfielder Oliver Kirch flicked Marco Reus' costless kick past the helpless Leno, and it was 1-1. Kirch had scored his first goal for his boyhood club, after the goal he had scored last week was credited elsewhere as he had finished it with his hand.
Surprisingly, six minutes later Leverkusen had regained command when, after some swift counter attacking player, Julian Brandt played a delightful croos to Gonzalo Castro, who headed past Weidenfeller from 8 yards out. Leverkusen attempted to bring with they had into half time, only for disaster to strike minutes later.
Following the pattern of the game, Roberto Hilbert handled a cross intended for Robert Lewandowski, and Marco Reus made no mistake from the spot to score his sixteenth Bundesliga goal of the season. He very nearly scored just one minute later after dispossessing a Leverkusen defender, but Leno kept him at bay with a fine save, and so both sides went in at the break with a scoreline of 2-2.
Neutral fans begged for more of the same, but until the seventieth minute, very little was created by either outfit. But all of a sudden, young Julian Brandt was played through one-on-one, only for Weidenfeller to make a brilliant save. In the seventy-eighth minute, Reus floated in a costless kick which was missed by everyone and almost caught Leno off guard, but he managed to scramble the ball away. The game petered out from then on, with the only action of note being the fact that Kießling pulled up with a suspected hamstring injury. All in all, a draw was a fair result, and it keeps both sides within reaching distance of where they want to end their seasons.