Leverkusen moved one step closer to a first-ever Bundesliga title with a 2-0 win over 10-man Wolfsburg on Sunday, thanks to goals from Nathan Trae and Florian Wirtz. Harry Kane scored his fourth hat-trick of the season as Bayern Munich beat Mainz 8-1 on Saturday to close the gap to seven points. Now, with nine games left, Leverkusen, who remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, lead by 10 points. “It’s not easy, but it’s well-deserved,” said Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka. “I’m sure the fans would have liked more goals but three points is three points.”
In the 28th minute, Wolfsburg player Moritz Janz received a second yellow card and Leverkusen gained the advantage.
It was the third consecutive league game in which Leverkusen’s opponents were eliminated with 10 men, showing the impact of the relentless pressure brought about by coach Xavi Alonso’s high-energy football.
“We could probably take more risks, but we don’t want that. We want to be patient, we want to wait,” Alonso told DAZN.
Leverkusen played two days after returning from Azerbaijan and fought back from 2-0 down to draw Qarabag 2-2 in the Europa League last 16.
Alonso made eight changes to keep his side fresh, while impressive full-back Jeremy Frimpong was forced to watch from the stands due to suspension.
The home side opened the scoring 11 minutes after Jantz was sent off, with Tralo rising high to head in Alex Grimaldo for the Spaniard’s 11th of the season assists.
Wirtz kicked off his side’s resurgence with a fine strike in Baku on Thursday and added his second with four minutes remaining on Sunday.
Gregorich scores again
Goals from Michael Gregoric and Maximilian Eggstein helped Freiburg beat Bochum 2-1 in next week’s Europa League second leg against West Ham United.
Gregoric’s goal proved crucial again as he scored the only goal in Thursday’s last-16 tie to give Freiburg a 1-0 advantage.
Eggstein gave the visitors the lead in the 36th minute with Gregorich’s header.
Gregorich headed home early in the second half, adding to Doan Law’s perfect pass to extend the visitors’ lead.
Ivan Aldez’s header halved the deficit with less than half an hour left, but it wasn’t enough for the home side.
“We made it to the end. I’m happy we succeeded,” Gregorich told DAZN.
Since defeating Bayern Munich 3-2 in mid-February, Bochum has now suffered two consecutive defeats at home.
The win prevented eighth-placed Freiburg from losing to West Ham United and advancing to the Europa League quarter-finals for the first time.
Frankfurt beat nine-man Hoffenheim 3-1 at home, widening the gap between the two clubs to seven points and cementing the hosts’ control of sixth place to secure the final European spot.
Hoffenheim’s American defender John Brooks went from star to villain when he opened the scoring six minutes later but was sent off 16 minutes later for a last-ditch tackle on Omar Mamouche.
Frankfurt played to their strengths, scoring three unanswered goals through Robin Koch, Eric Diner-Ebimbe and Mario Götze.
Hoffenheim received a second yellow card for former Liverpool defender Ozan Kabak with 12 minutes remaining.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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