Coach Niko Kovac has begun life at Borussia Dortmund with a 2-1 defeat at home against VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, while champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a goalless draw at VfL Wolfsburg.

Stuttgart will be thankful to former defender Waldemar Anton after he scored an own goal to give them the opener in the 50th minute of Saturday's clash.

Jeff Chabot then added a second for the guests just after the hour with his maiden Bundesliga goal.

Julian Brandt pulled one back for Dortmund in the 81st but their hopes of grabbing at least a point were dashed when Julian Ryerson received a second yellow and was sent off in the 89th.

Dortmund have now won only one of their six league games so far this year in a run that includes four defeats. They are 11th in the standings and six points from Stuttgart, who currently occupy the last spot for Champions League qualification.

Kovac was brought to replace Nuri Sahin and turn things around but started his term on a negative note.

Leverkusen scored a last-gasp goal on Wednesday that helped them defeat Cologne 3-2 in the German Cup, but failed to repeat the trick at Wolfsburg.

Despite the point, they now sit eight points behind leaders Bayern Munich ahead of their blockbuster clash next weekend.

Elsewhere, in a duel directly linked to the relegation battle, Union Berlin managed to take a breather while at the same time plunging Hoffenheim closer to the danger zone in a 4-0 win.

Benedict Hollerbach scored a brace, Marin Ljubicic was on target on his Bundesliga debut and Andrej Ilic also netted.

Union are now 10 points from the drop zone, while Hoffenheim have four points separating them from the relegation play-off spot.

In other matches, Mainz and Augsburg played out a goalless draw while Freiburg prevailed 1-0 against Heidenheim.