DORTMUND: Dortmund's Christian Pulisic jumps for the ball in front of Augsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Augsburg in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday. – AP

BERLIN:  Borussia Dortmund ended 2016 with whistles from its own fans after being held to a 1-1 draw in the Bundesliga by gritty Augsburg on Tuesday.

Not even the news of midfielder Julian Weigl's contract extension to 2021 could hide the disappointment of Dortmund's third successive league draw.

It wasn't for lack of effort - the home side had 23 attempts on goal but only Ousmane Dembele's equalizer after the interval to show for it.

"I think the game today reflects the whole opening half of the season," Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said of a side that beat Bayern Munich and topped a Champions League group containing Real Madrid.

Tuchel had said he was worried by his side's propensity to concede first - since the 1-0 win over Bayern, Dortmund had been left with an uphill task across six competitive games. And it happened again on Tuesday when Ji Dong-won scored against his former club in the 33rd minute.

Marc Bartra lost the ball and Martin Hinteregger surged forward despite the attention of five Dortmund players, slipping a pass to Jan Moravek, who noticed Ji free on the left. Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller blocked his first effort but the rebound fell kindly for the South Korean to grab his third league goal of the season.

Dortmund was dominating possession but struggling to create chances against Augsburg's compact 5-4-1 formation.

Tuchel brought Bartra off for Sven Bender at the break and Dembele equalized two minutes later, sweeping the ball in with his left foot after Shinji Kagawa played him through.

Kagawa might have had a penalty shortly afterward when it appeared Paul Verhaegh brought him down.

Dortmund pushed hard but couldn't find another breakthrough. The side is fourth in the standings and might be overtaken by Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin on Wednesday, when league leader Bayern Munich hosts promoted Leipzig for a top-of-the-table clash.

All of Tuesday's games were preceded with a minute's silence for victims of the truck attack at a Christmas market that left 12 people dead and many injured in Berlin the evening before. The players also wore black armbands.