Stuttgart midfielder Christian Gentner denied Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund victory by equalising in injury time to earn his side a 4-4 draw in a frenetic game yesterday.

Ivan Perisic had scored what looked like Dortmund’s winning goal in the 87th minute, five minutes after Mats Hummels had equalized for the league leaders.

Julian Schieber scored a quickfire double to put Stuttgart 3-2 up after 79 minutes.

Dortmund were 2-0 up through first-half goals by Shinji Kagawa and Jakub Blaszczykowski until the 71st minute when Vedad Ibisevic got Stuttgart’s first.

Dortmund stretched their club record unbeaten run to 22 games and are six points above Bayern Munich, who visit Nuremberg today.

The best news for Borussia Dortmund came a few days before yesterday’s Bundesliga match against Stuttgart, when emerging midfield star Mario Goetze agreed to a contract extension.

Goetze’s decision to stay in Dortmund until 2016 underlined Dortmund’s ambition to become Bayern Munich’s permanent rivals and a second German powerhouse.

Before Goetze, Dortmund secured the transfer of Marco Reus from Borussia Moenchengladbach, another highly regarded midfielder. Bayern had expressed interest in both players.

In previous years, few German players were able to resist Bayern’s call. Now, Dortmund seem to be just as fine an address.

Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp has played down the status rivalry with Bayern.

“We don’t have the feeling of being in competition with anyone,” Klopp said. “We are seeking to improve our situation and we have a lot of room to do that.”

Klopp is hoping the club will soon seal another deal - the extension of the contract of Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa (photo). Kagawa still has a season on his contract and has been in outstanding form in the past few weeks. Kagawa is also the team’s second best scorer with 11 goals.

Dortmund would like to keep their advantage until they host Bayern on 11 April in what is likely to be the decisive match of the season.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has boldly predicted that “if we win in Dortmund, we will win the championship.”

Bayern, fresh off a 2-0 win in Marseille in the Champions League, travel to Nuremberg today for the Bavarian derby. The team has been in fine form in recent weeks and has won its last three Bundesliga matches.

With seven matches remaining, Nuremberg are only four points away from the relegation zone and will be hoping at least for a draw.

Hamburg, another club rich in tradition, face a crucial match at last-place Kaiserslautern. Kaiserslautern are six points behind Hertha Berlin and seven points behind Hamburg, who are currently sitting in the relegation playoff slot.

Kaiserslautern have not won in 17 matches and three points would revive their slim hopes of escaping relegation. A fifth straight defeat could doom Hamburg, the only team never relegated since the founding of the Bundesliga in 1963.