A Jadon Sancho double was not enough to earn Borussia Dortmund all three points as Salomon Kalou also scored a brace to earn Hertha Berlin a 2-2 draw at the Signal Iduna Park.
Achraf Hakimi and Jadon Sancho both had early chances as Dortmund flooded forward in numbers. Hakimi was alert to take the ball off Vedad Ibisevic’s toes as Hertha threatened on the counter-attack, Niklas Stark testing Roman Bürki from the consequent corner. Hakimi had another effort deflect agonisingly wide of the far post, before Video Assist intervened to chalk off Sancho’s outstanding backheeled finish from a Marco Reus pass, albeit after the German forward had only marginally moved into an offside position. The England international only had to wait ten more minutes before scoring a valid goal, though, coolly slotting the ball inside the near post after Mario Götze timed his assist to perfection. Dortmund’s excellent first-half work was nevertheless undone when a rare mistake by Mahmoud Dahoud was punished ruthlessly, Maximilian Mittelstädt curling a sweeping pass into the path of a predatory Salomon Kalou, who brought the Old Lady level before the break.
Kalou could have put Hertha ahead early in the second half, but he was unable to get any direction on a volley after once again losing his marker, then Vladimir Darida – making his first appearance of the season as a half-time substitute – rifled another effort over as Hertha made a bright start to the second 45 minutes. Hakimi sent Dortmund’s first chance of the second period into the side-netting and he would have been celebrating his second goal of the season had Sancho not made sure, almost apologetically completing his first Bundesliga brace from close range. Raphael Guerreiro could have wrapped up victory, but he shot straight at Rune Jarstein, while Jacob Bruun Larsen also squandered an opportunity late on. They were made to pay the price too as Davie Selke, after being denied by Roman Bürki, was felled inside the penalty area, allowing Kalou to snatch a point from the spot.
