DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Niclas Füllkrug scored a hat trick as Borussia Dortmund continued its winning start to the new year by beating local rival Bochum 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
For the first time since November, Dortmund ended a round of games inside the Champions League qualifying places. Edin Terzic’s team took fourth spot from Leipzig, which was beaten 5-2 by third-place Stuttgart on Saturday.
Füllkrug scored two penalties and a header to give Dortmund its third straight win to start 2024 and hand 14th-place Bochum its first loss of the new year.
Bochum gifted Dortmund the lead in the third minute when goalkeeper Manuel Riemann rushed out and collided with Donyell Malen. After a break for Riemann to receive treatment, Füllkrug deceived the goalkeeper with a stuttering run-up and converted the spot kick with ease.
A Dortmund error let Bochum back into the game as Nico Schlotterbeck turned Patrick Osterhage’s cross — which seemed to be heading harmlessly to the goalkeeper — into his own net in the 45th.
Füllkrug headed in from Marcel Sabitzer’s cross in the 72nd and completed his hat trick in stoppage time with another penalty after Cristian Gamboa brought down Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
Jadon Sancho, on loan from Manchester United, was in Dortmund’s starting lineup for the second straight week and played 83 minutes.
Also Sunday, Union Berlin won 1-0 against Darmstadt despite having coach Nenad Bjelica banned from the bench for striking Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sané on Wednesday.
Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen kicked away a shot from Union forward Benedict Hollerbach on a one-on-one break in the 48th. Hollerbach got his revenge 14 minutes later by scoring with a shot that went between Schuhen’s legs. It was Union’s first goal of 2024 after failing to score in its first two games of the new year.
Union stays 15th in the 18-team league but has a five-point cushion over Cologne in the relegation playoff spot. Darmstadt is last.
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