Salomon Kalou's late equalizer secure 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 plenty of for Dortmund as Berlin's Salomon Kalou left it late to ensure one point on the road.

The "BVB" gripped the reins from the start and dominated the starting stages as Achraf Hakimi and Jadon Snacho maintained Berlin's defence busy.

Dortmund thought they had opened the scoring with 18 mins 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 shattered the deadlock in the 26th minute when the England international made the most out of Mario Goetze's deep through ball.

Hertha Berlin replied just before the break as Maximilian Mittelstaedt's fast period of time allowed Salomon Kalou to beat onrushing goalkeeper Roman Buerki from the edge in the box in the 41st day.

The visitors came out with their particular guns blazing as Kalou came close before Vladimir Darida pulled wide coming from promising position after the restart.

Nevertheless, it were the hosts who grabbed the lead again as Sancho sealed his brace following tapping home Marco Reus' assist in the 61st little.

Dortmund gained momentum and should have extended their business lead but substitutes Raphael Guerreiro and Jacob Bruun Larsen wasted golden chances.

Consequently, Hertha Berlin left it late and shocked the hosts with the equalizer because Dan-Axel Zagadou felled Davie Selke inside the box, allowing for Kalou to convert the awarded foul play punishment from the spot in the dying seconds of the game.

With the result, Dortmund stay on top of the standings whereas Hertha Berlin climb from the sixth to the 5th place.

Protecting champions Bayern Munich moved into the second place, only two-points adrift of the "BVB", following beating Mainz 2-1 traveling.

Bayern staged a slow start and needed time to gain a foothold in to the encounter.

It took the visitors 30 minutes to open the credit scoring but the video referee banned 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 ever Joshua Kimmich's cross in the box found Leon Goretzka, who hammered home having a volley at the near content.

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 draw when Thiago Alcantara poked home Lewandoski's square pass to make it 2-1 around the scoreboards.

Javi Martinez experienced 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 towards the second spot whereas Mainz stay on the 12th posture.

Elsewhere, Wolfsburg returned to winning ways after driving 3-0 past bottom area Dusseldorf.

Goals from Rani Khedira and Alfred Finnbogason helped Augsburg to border Hannover 2-1 and Hoffenheim whitewashed ten-men Stuttgart 4-0.

The following fixtures conclude the ninth round on On the: Nuremberg host Frankfurt, Leipzig see Schalke and Bremen face Leverkusen.