VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Borussia Dortmund

Chadrac Akolo was able to tap the opening goal into an empty net after a mix-up

Borussia Dortmund's problems continued as they lost to mid-table Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

Peter Bosz's side, who have won only one of their past eight games, were without star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, dropped for disciplinary reasons - reportedly being late for the team bus to Stuttgart.

They trailed in comical circumstances early on, as keeper Roman Burki miscontrolled Marc Bartra's backpass into the path of Chadrac Akolo, who was able to tap the ball into an empty net.

Dortmund levelled just before the break after Andre Schurrle's penalty was saved by Ron-Robert Zieler, with Maximilian Philipp slamming the rebound into the roof of the net.

Stuttgart teenager Josip Brekalo replaced the injured Akolo at the break, and scored his first Bundesliga goal minutes later when he ran from his own half before drilling the ball through Burki's legs.

Both sides had chances to score again, most notably when Andriy Yarmolenko's excellent chip over Zieler was disallowed, because he had handled the ball - albeit seemingly accidentally - in the build-up.

Dortmund - who won six of their opening seven Bundesliga games - have not won in the five since then and are six points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Their only success since September in any competition was against third-tier Magdeburg in the German Cup.