Stuttgart down Dortmund 2-1 in Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund's losing streak continued as they lost 1-2 away against newly promoted Stuttgart in the opener of the 12th round in Bundesliga football championship.

Dortmund on Friday suffered their third consecutive defeat as goals from Stuttgart's Chadrac Akolo and Josip Brekalo secured their fifth victory of the season, reports Xinhua news agency.

Peter Bosz' men grabbed the worst possible start into the encounter as Akolo stunned the visitors after capitalising on a moment of madness by Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki with just five minutes played.

The Congolese striker had the chance to double the lead but Buerki was on guard to deny moments later.

As the match progressed, Dortmund began to take over and their efforts got rewarded as Stuttgart's Benjamin Pavard caused a handball penalty after a cross from Mario Goetze. Andre Schuerrle stepped up but was unable to overcome Ron-Robert Zieler, before Maximilian Philipp utilised the follow up shot from close range to level the scores before the break.

Despite Dortmund's equaliser, newly promoted Stuttgart remained unimpressed after the restart. To make things worse, Stuttgart restored their lead with six minutes into the second half when substitute Brekalo finished off a counter attack after nutmegging goalkeeper Buerki.

Both sides remained in search for another goal but yet Dortmund were unable to avoid a damaging third straight loss, whereas Stuttgart wrapped up a vital victory in front of home crowd.

With the result, Dortmund stay on the third place for the moment meanwhile Stuttgart jumped on the 11th position of the Bundesliga standings.

--IANS

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