Third-placed Dortmund lost 2-1 to Hertha Berlin as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's equalizer was not enough to secure points in the German capital.

Both sides staged an evenly balanced start with promising opportunities at both ends of the pitch.

It were nonetheless the hosts who opened the scoring through Salomon Kalou, who tapped in Vedad Ibisevic's square pass from three meters in the 11th minute.

Kalou had another two chances to add a second goal to Berlin's lead but the striker's long-range effort was tipped over the bar from custodian Romaen Buerki before Raphael Guerreiro cleared another opportunity off the goal line.

Dortmund lacked in penetration and had a hard time to overcome Berlin's well-positioned defence. Hence, Thomas Tuchel's men had to wait until the 55th minute before Aubameyang was able to restore parity following Shinji Kagawa's assist.

Hertha Berlin remained unfazed and had an ace in the hole as Marvin Plattenhardt unleashed a free kick into the top right corner to make the game safe in the 71st minute.

Despite the defeat, Dortmund stay on third place whereas Berlin continue on fifth place of the standings.

Elsewhere, runners-up Leipzig suffered a surprising 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Wolfsburg as Mario Gomez' early goal smoothed the victory on the road.

Hoffenheim shared the spoils with newly promoted Freiburg following a 1-1 as Andrej Kramaric cancelled out Maximilian Philipp's second-half opener.

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