BERLIN, Oct. 27 -- Salomon Kalou's late equalizer secured Hertha Berlin a 2-2 draw at front runners Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich overcame resilient Mainz on Thiago Alcantara's 2-1 winner in the ninth round of Bundesliga on Saturday.
Jadon Sancho's brace wasn't enough for Dortmund as Berlin's Salomon Kalou left it late to ensure one point on the road.
The "BVB" grabbed the reins from the kick off and dominated the opening stages as Achraf Hakimi and Jadon Snacho kept Berlin's defence busy.
Dortmund thought they had opened the scoring with 18 minutes into the game but the video referee flagged Sancho's back-heel goal offside.
However, Sancho remained in the thick of things as he eventually broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when the England international made the most out of Mario Goetze's deep through ball.
Hertha Berlin responded just before the break as Maximilian Mittelstaedt's fast break allowed Salomon Kalou to beat onrushing goalkeeper Roman Buerki from the edge of the box in the 41st minute.
The visitors came out with their guns blazing as Kalou came close before Vladimir Darida pulled wide from promising position after the restart.
Nevertheless, it were the hosts who grabbed the lead again as Sancho sealed his brace after tapping home Marco Reus' assist in the 61st minute.
Dortmund gained momentum and should have extended their lead but substitutes Raphael Guerreiro and Jacob Bruun Larsen wasted golden chances.
Hence, Hertha Berlin left it late and shocked the hosts with the equalizer as Dan-Axel Zagadou felled Davie Selke inside the box, allowing Kalou to convert the awarded foul play penalty from the spot in the dying seconds of the game.
With the result, Dortmund stay atop the standings whereas Hertha Berlin climb from the 6th to the 5th place.
Defending champions Bayern Munich moved into the second place, only two points adrift of the "BVB", after beating Mainz 2-1 on the road.
Bayern staged a slow start and needed some time to gain a foothold into the encounter.
It took the visitors 30 minutes to open the scoring but the video referee disallowed Thiago's opener due to a foul play by Robert Lewandowski inside the box.
Nico Kovac's men remained unimpressed and marked the opener nine minutes later when Joshua Kimmich's cross into the box found Leon Goretzka, who hammered home with a volley at the near post.
After the half time Mainz caught the visitors flatfooted as Jean-Paul Boetius tapped home Daniel Brosinski's delivery into the box to restore parity in the 48th minute.
Bayern regrouped and secured the lead at the hour mark when Thiago Alcantara poked home Lewandoski's square pass to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards.
Javi Martinez had almost his name on the scoreboards as well but the defender rattled only the left post with his long-range effort in the closing period.
With the victory, Bayern jump from the fourth to the second spot whereas Mainz stay on the 12th position.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg returned to winning ways after cruising 3-0 past bottom side Dusseldorf.
Goals from Rani Khedira and Alfred Finnbogason helped Augsburg to edge Hannover 2-1 and Hoffenheim whitewashed ten-men Stuttgart 4-0.
The following fixtures conclude the ninth round on Sunday: Nuremberg host Frankfurt, Leipzig see Schalke and Bremen face Leverkusen. Enditem