Berlin (AFP) - Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw at Cologne on Sunday as Erling Haaland made his first start in two months, leaving Bayern Munich six points clear in the Bundesliga.
After Robert Lewandowski scored twice in Bayern's 4-0 thrashing of Union Berlin on Saturday, second-placed Dortmund lost ground in the title race with seven games left.
"It was intense, there was a lot of back and forth," Dortmund centre-back Manuel Akanji told DAZN.
"We had a lot of chances, but in the end we just didn't score.That's not enough."
Haaland cut a frustrated figure as he returned to the starting line-up for the first time since January following injury, and has now failed to score in his last three appearances.
Two of those have come as a substitute, but it is the longest the 21-year-old Norwegian has gone without a goal since joining Dortmund in January 2020.
Dortmund took the lead after just eight minutes when Marius Wolf snapped up a Jude Bellingham pass and scored his second goal in as many games.
Cologne were level by half-time after Anthony Modeste's flick was tapped in at the far past by his forward partner Sebastian Andersson.
Dortmund showed few ideas of how to break down the resilient Cologne defence in the second half.
Paulinho grabs two goals
Earlier, Brazilian Paulinho came off the bench to score a late double and give Bayer Leverkusen a morale-boosting 2-0 win at Wolfsburg after a three-match losing streak.
Paulinho came on for the final 10 minutes and changed the game with his first Bundesliga goals for more than two years as Leverkusen reclaimed third place in the table.
"I'm most happy for Paulinho," Leverkusen captain Lukas Hradecky told DAZN.
"He runs and makes spaces for the team, now like a ketchup bottle, his goals burst out."
The 21-year-old winger embarked on a mazy run to the edge of the Wolfsburg penalty area before hitting the net with four minutes remaining.
He struck again in stoppage time by heading in a Kerem Demirbay cross after being left unmarked in the area.
Leverkusen's derby defeat at home to Cologne last Sunday was sandwiched between home and away losses to Atalanta in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Leverkusen's squad has been decimated by injuries over the last seven days.
Dutch right-back Timothy Fosu-Mensah is set to miss the rest of the season after tearing his right hamstring in Thursday's home defeat to Atalanta.
Both defender Jeremie Frimpong and attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz will miss the remainder of the season after damaging ankle and knee ligaments respectively in the loss to Cologne.
Frustration for Leipzig
Fourth-placed RB Leipzig were held to a frustrating goalless draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
"We are disappointed because of the huge chances we had -- normally we take them," Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco told DAZN.
Hosts Leipzig had by far the better chances at the Red Bull Arena as Konrad Laimer hit the Eintracht crossbar in the first half after Mohamed Simakan had a shot saved onto the post.
Three days after needing an extra-time goal to squeeze past Real Betis in the Europa League to book a clash with Barcelona in the quarter-finals, Frankfurt looked jaded, failing to have a single shot on target.
Leipzig last played the previous Sunday having had a full week off due to their bye into the Europa League quarter-finals.
Their last-16 opponents Spartak Moscow were excluded from the competition as part of a ban by UEFA on all Russian clubs following the invasion of Ukraine.
Leipzig have drawn Leverkusen's vanquishers Atalanta in the Europa League last eight.
