Dortmund's Norwegian forward Erling Braut Haaland smiles after his team's 5-3 victory at the end of the German first division Bundesliga football match Augsburg v Borussia Dortmund in Augsburg, on Jan 18, 2020. (THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP)

BERLIN - Winter signing Erling Haaland provided a debut hat trick and helped Borussia Dortmund to bounce back from a 3-1 deficit against Augsburg at the 18th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.

The "BVB" grabbed the better start on the road and came to chances in the opening period through Thorgan Hazard and Marco Reus.

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The introduction of Haaland was a game changer as the Norway international scored another two goals in the closing period to wrap up the comeback victory and his hat trick in the 79th minute

Hosts Augsburg needed eleven minutes to gain a foothold into the match as Florian Niederlechner unleashed a long-range effort which missed the target just wide.

The hosts thought they had opened the scoring ten minutes later but Ruben Vargas' goal was flagged offside.

However, with 34 minutes played the hosts eventually broke the deadlock as Ruben Vargas raced down the left wing before finding Niederlechner, who tapped home the opener between two Dortmund defender.

The "Fuggerstaedter" remained on the front foot and extended their lead soon after the restart when Marco Richter intercepted a clearance and hammered the ball past goalkeeper Roman Buerki from 23 meters.

Augsburg's second goal was a wakening call for the visitors as Julian Brandt danced through the hosts' defence and slotted home with a turn shot from inside the box to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards.

Augsburg remained unimpressed and restored their two-goal lead, as once again two Dortmund defenders were unable to deny Niederlechner the brace from very close range, following the build up work from Philipp Max in the 55th minute.

Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre reacted on the poor performance of his team and fielded newly signed Haaland, who needed only three minutes to score his debut goal after tapping home Jadon Sancho's through ball in the 59th minute.

The "BVB" gained momentum and restored parity two minutes later after Mats Hummels assisted Sancho with a long ball from their own territory, allowing the England international to beat Augsburg goalkeeper Tomas Koubek.

Dortmund's Norwegian forward Erling Braut Haaland (L) scores his 2nd goal during the German first division Bundesliga football match Augsburg v Borussia Dortmund in Augsburg, on Jan 18, 2020. (THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP)

The introduction of Haaland was a game changer as the Norway international scored another two goals in the closing period to wrap up the comeback victory and his hat trick in the 79th minute.

With the win, Dortmund defended the 4th place meanwhile Augsburg stay on the 10th position in the standings.

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen edged Fortuna Dusseldorf 1-0 in the bottom clash on the own goal from Florian Kastenmeier.

Timothy Chandler's second-half winner secured Eintracht Frankfurt a 2-1 victory at Hoffenheim.

Goals from Kwon Chang-Hoon and Nils Petersen helped Freiburg to take all three points from Mainz and wasteful Wolfsburg got punished 3-1 by newly promoted Cologne.

Leipzig extended lead atop standings

Front runners Leipzig came from behind on a brace from Timo Werner and moved 3-1 past newly promoted Union Berlin on home soil at the 18th round in Bundesliga.

Leipzig needed some warm-up time to get into the first encounter of 2020 but the front runners turned up in the second half to secure all three points in front of home crowd.

Leipzig's German forward Timo Werner (L) heads the ball as Union Berlin's Polish goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz (R) reacts during the German first division Bundesliga football match RB Leipzig v FC Union Berlin in Leipzig, on Jan 18, 2020. (RONNY HARTMANN / AFP)

However, things started other than expected as Union Berlin opened the scoring with just ten minutes played as Sebastian Andersson's diagonal pass allowed Marius Bluter to overcome Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.

Berlin created another chance through Christan Gentner five minutes later but his header on target was no threat for Gulacsi.

It was Berlin's last opportunity for the remainder of the first half as Leipzig gained the upper hand and pressed the visitors into the defence. Patrik Schick were unable to beat Union keeper Rafal Gikiewicz while Werner squandered a golden chance.

Leipzig were in complete control and continued to press forward but still they were not able to score before the break as Lukas Klostermann's shot on target got defused by his teammate Dayot Upamecano and Nordi Mukiele pulled wide from sharp angle.

After the restart, Leipzig's efforts eventually paid off when Werner drilled a volley into the top left corner to level the scores in the 51st minute.

Julian Nagelsmann's men increased the pressure and completed the turnaround six minutes later as Union were unable to clear corner, allowing Marcel Sabitzer to poke home right footed.

Leipzig controlled the reins but for all that the visitors from the capital came to a promising chance out of the blue still Gulacsi was on guard to deny Robert Andrich from tight angle in the 71st minute.

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The hosts reacted and destroyed all hopes of a comeback in the 83rd minute when Werner sewed up his brace after tapping home Sabitzer's pinpoint cross into the box.

With the result, Leipzig increased their advantage atop the standings to five points meanwhile Union Berlin slip to the 12th position.

The following encounters conclude the 18th round on Sunday: Hertha Berlin clash with defending champions Bayern Munich and bottom side Paderborn face Bayer Leverkusen.