Looking to put an end to a three-match losing Bundesliga run, Hamburg at least had a home crowd to draw inspiration from against one of the division’s top sides.
Dortmund predictably kept hold of possession early on, and were denied an opener when Daniel Svensson’s shot was prevented from finding the far corner by a sliding Jordan Torunarigha.
Aside from that, the visitors looked every bit the side who had failed to score more than once in six of their last seven outings, and they slowly allowed Hamburg to play their own game too.
Yussuf Poulsen’s effort from distance was welcomed into Gregor Kobel’s gloves, but the Dortmund stopper was not so comfortable when Nicolas Capaldo’s header from Giorgi Gocholeishvili’s cross smashed against the crossbar.
It nevertheless remained goalless into the second half, where the fortunes of both sides in front of goal didn’t immediately change.
There was little goalmouth action until the 64th minute, when a flurry of activity for Dortmund culminated in Nico Schlotterbeck hooking it back for Carney Chukwuemeka to volley low past Daniel Heuer Fernandes.
Hamburg looked dejected, but were almost successful in their response, though Robert Glatzel couldn’t place his shot far enough either side of Kobel.
HSV kept plugging away and made the final moments all about them, but were furious not to get a penalty when Ransford-Yeboah Konigsdorffer went down under pressure from Waldemar Anton.
The hosts were rewarded handsomely for their pressure in the final minute of stoppage time, when a floated cross from Miro Muheim was met first by Konigsdorffer, whose header flew past a motionless Kobel and into the bottom corner.
Though it wasn’t the full three points, it certainly felt like it in the Volksparkstadion, and this may be their finest result since they were promoted back to the top flight.
Dortmund’s inability to find the net more than once of late hurt them here, but they won’t be too disappointed given that no sides in the Bundesliga top three won this weekend.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund)