Veterans Reus and Hummels rescue Borussia Dortmund with 4-2 win at Freiburg in Bundesliga

1 of 10 |

Dortmund’s Marco Reus, right, celebrates with Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko, left, after scoring his side’s fourth goal of the German Bundesliga soccer match between SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund in Freiburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

2 of 10 |

Dortmund’s Mats Hummels celebrates after scoring his side’s third goal of the German Bundesliga soccer match between SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund in Freiburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

3 of 10 |

Dortmund’s Mats Hummels scores his side’s first goal of the German Bundesliga soccer match between SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund in Freiburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

4 of 10 |

Mainz’s Leandro Barreiro celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal of the Bundesliga soccer match between FSZ Mainz 05 and VfB Stuttgart, at the Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany, Saturday Sept. 16, 2023. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

5 of 10 |

Wolfsburg’s Joakim Maehle jumps over Berlin’s Robin Gosens during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and 1. FC Union Berlin in Wolfsburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Swen Pfoertner/dpa via AP)

6 of 10 |

Stuttgart’s goal scorer Serhou Guirassy, right celebrates hugging Stuttgart’s Enzo Millot after scoring his side’s first goal of the Bundesliga soccer match between FSZ Mainz 05 and VfB Stuttgart, at the Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany, Saturday Sept. 16, 2023. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

7 of 10 |

Stuttgart’s Dan-Axel Zagadou right, and Mainz’s Ludovic Ajorque jump for the ball during the Bundesliga soccer match between FSZ Mainz 05 and VfB Stuttgart, at the Mewa Arena in Mainz, Germany, Saturday Sept. 16, 2023. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

8 of 10 |

Dortmund’s Donyell Malen celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal of the German Bundesliga soccer match between SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund in Freiburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

9 of 10 |

Freiburg’s Nicolas Höfler, second from right, celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal of the German Bundesliga soccer match between SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund in Freiburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

10 of 10 |

Freiburg’s Nicolas Höfler, second from right, scores his side’s second goal of the German Bundesliga soccer match between SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund in Freiburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

By CIARÁN FAHEY

BERLIN (AP) — Borussia Dortmund veterans Marco Reus and Mats Hummels scored late to earn a 4-2 win at Freiburg on Saturday and reduce talk of a crisis at the club after its poor start to the Bundesliga.

Reus went on as a substitute and delivered a free kick that fell to Hummels – who’s also 34 – to squeeze over the line from close range in the 88th minute, then sealed the win himself in the third minute of injury time.

It meant Dortmund ended a two-game winless run ahead of its visit to Paris Saint-Germain for their Champions League opener on Tuesday.

Hummels opened the scoring with a header off Julian Brandt’s corner in the 11th. He has now scored a goal in 16 consecutive Bundesliga seasons, becoming only the sixth player to do so.

Other news

Burnley's head coach Vincent Kompany walks on the pitch at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor stadium in Burnley, England, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

MATCHDAY: Burnley looks for 1st points in Premier League. Girona chases 4th straight win in Spain

Real Madrid's Joselu celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal during Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Madrid rallies again to beat Sociedad and extend its perfect start in Spanish league

Arsenal's Leandro Trossard, right, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Arsenal at the Goodison Park stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Arsenal gets a moment of quality from Trossard’s goal in drab 1-0 win at Everton in Premier League

But the team has been struggling this season and its problems did not disappear over the international break.

“It’s not just this season,” said Hummels, who also became the oldest player to score two goals for Dortmund in a league game. “Playing against defensive opponents and finding solutions with this class and calmness on the ball, dominating the opponent in midfield, it’s definitely something that we clearly have to improve on if we want to be a top team.”

Freiburg improved as the game progressed with Philipp Lienhart striking the post before Ritsu Doan also went close.

Substitute Vincenzo Grifo crossed for Lucas Höler to equalize in first-half injury time and there was still time before the break for Nicolas Höfler to score from Grifo’s free kick.

Dortmund substitute Niclas Füllkrug set up Donyell Malen to equalize on the hour-mark, but the visitors only gained the upper hand when Höfler was sent off late for a bad challenge on Marcel Sabitzer.

“We’re not yet at 100%,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzić said. “You could see that today, particularly in the first half. It’s not always so easy, we haven’t started the season well. We were criticized before for giving away the lead. This time we recovered and managed to win in the end. You can tell the guys are very self-critical, they speak about negative things, but then we focus on the positive and work well on the training field.

“Now a new competition is waiting for us on Tuesday against a team that plays completely differently from Freiburg. We’ll start preparing for that tomorrow and we’re looking forward to it. But first we’re happy to be flying home as winners today.”

REAL MADRID WAITING

Union Berlin slumped to its second straight defeat — losing 2-1 at Wolfsburg — before its Champions League debut at Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci remained on the bench for Union and is still to make his debut following a summer switch from Juventus.

Union made the better start but fell behind to an early strike from Jonas Wind on a counterattack. It was the Denmark striker’s fifth goal in four games this season.

Aïssa Laïdouni crossed for Robin Gosens to equalize in the 28th, only for Joakim Mæhle to reply two minutes later when he fired through a host of players after Frederik Rönnow punched away a corner.

Leipzig warmed up for its Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win at Augsburg. Leipzig plays Swiss team Young Boys in Bern on Tuesday.

Serhou Guirassy scored a hat trick for Stuttgart to beat Mainz 3-1 away, and Cologne was beaten 3-1 at home by Hoffenheim as it celebrated 100 years of the Müngersdorfer Stadium.

Eintracht Frankfurt drew at Bochum 1-1 in the late game.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer