Hannover increase Dortmund's woes, Stuttgart overpower Frankfurt

Hannover's Hiroshi Kiyotake shoved Borussia Dortmund into a crisis while Stuttgart fought back twice to down Frankfurt 5-4 in the ninth round of the German Bundesliga.

Dortmund suffered their fourth straight loss (0-1) in the Bundesliga as Kiyotake's free-kick goal Saturday smoothed the way for Hannover's first win after three consecutive defeats, reports Xinhua.

Juergen Klopp's men needed 12 minutes to gain a foothold into the game as Henrikh Mkhitaryan created the first chance against the visitors from Lower Saxony. The Armenian was on target with a turn shot but saw his effort saved by Hannover goalkeeper Ron Robert Zieler.

Mkhitaryan's chance was a wakening call for his team as Dortmund created a bunch of promising chances. Mats Hummels came close with his header but Ron-Robert Zieler turned the ball around the bar before Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled wide with long-range efforts.

As the match progressed, Hannover were able to keep Dortmund at a distance. However, things changed with the restart of the second half as the "BVB" continued to work out goal-scoring opportunities.

Marco Reus twice had the chance to break the deadlock but he either was short on accuracy or Zieler made a save.

Dortmund's wastefulness was punished by Kiyotake, who opened the scoring against the run of the game with a dead ball goal into the top left corner from 20 metres.

Dortmund pressed frenetically but all their efforts remained fruitless although Hannover had to complete the game with 10-men, as Ceyhun Guelselam saw his second yellow card just before the final whistle.

With the result, Dortmund slump to 15th place while Hannover climb to seventh position.

Stuttgart and Frankfurt staged a goal-scoring fest with nine goals. The "Swabians" recovered twice to record their second win of the season.

Stuttgart had a better start into the encounter but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 21st minute through Alexander Madlung following a corner.

Stuttgart responded with a brace by Martin Harnik, who turned the tide within two minutes.

As soon as Frankfurt had recovered from their first-half shock, they had to swallow a third goal as Stuttgart's Christian Gentner made it 3-1 on the scoreboards in the 51st minute.

Frankfurt responded with a three-goal comeback within eight minutes to flabbergast their opponents.

Alexander Meier, Stefan Aigner and Alexander Madlung secured Frankfurt the 4-3 lead before Stuttgart fought back again through Timo Werner and Christian Gentner, who killed the game with six minutes remaining.

With the win, Stuttgart jumped to 14th position whereas Frankfurt slippped to 11th.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim consolidated their top-three position as they edged off newly promoted Paderborn 1-0, courtesy Kevin Volland's winner in the 73rd minute.

Ben Hatira's brace secured Berlin a 3-0 victory over Hamburg on home soil.

Augsburg worsened Freiburg's relegation worries as goals by Paul Verhaegh and Halil Altintop inflicted Freiburg their fourth loss of the season.