MUNICH, April 27 — Bayern Munich and Harry Kane’s title celebrations will need to wait after Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 win over Augsburg cancelled out the Bavarians’ 3-0 home victory over Mainz yesterday in the Bundesliga.
Bayern needed to win and hope Leverkusen dropped points to lift the title. First-half goals from Leroy Sane and Michael Olise and a late Eric Dier strike put Bayern on course, but Xabi Alonso’s defending champions were not willing to cede their title so easily.
Bayern can collect their 34th league title with a win next week at RB Leipzig but will need to do so without Kane.
The England captain, who has famously never lifted a team title with club or country in his career, will miss the match with a yellow card suspension.
Serge Gnabry created Bayern’s opener for Sane, dribbling through a crowded penalty area and cutting back for the former Manchester City winger to score.
Olise doubled up with 40 minutes played, drifting in off the right and wrongfooting the goalkeeper with a low shot at the near post.
With 10 minutes remaining, Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will leave the club at season’s end, came off the bench for his 500th Bundesliga appearance.
Dier, also yet to win a team trophy in his career, headed in from a corner with six minutes remaining.
Mueller told Sky the “win was very important” and that he would “bet on” the team lifting the title in Leipzig next week.
In Leverkusen, Florian Wirtz helped create the hosts’ opener, threading the ball to Nathan Tella on the counter.
Tella found Patrik Schick whose shot took a wicked deflection and looped over the goalkeeper for his 19th league goal of the season.
Emi Buendia curled in from the edge of the box just before half-time, giving the hosts, who have dropped more points than any other side from a winning position this season, some welcome breathing space.
Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich praised his side’s “very focused performance”, adding “we’ve postponed their championship celebrations for another week”.
Frankfurt thump Leipzig
Eintracht Frankfurt thrashed a 10-man RB Leipzig 4-0 at home, all but securing a top-four finish and Champions League football next season.
Ansgar Knauff scored twice for the hosts, with Hugo Ekitike and Robin Koch also finding the net.
Leipzig lost defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu to a red card for a last man foul with 50 minutes gone and Frankfurt scored three times in the following 21 minutes.
Frankfurt, whose only Champions League appearance came from winning the 2022 Europa League, are now six clear of fifth-placed Leipzig with three games remaining.
Elsewhere, Waldemar Anton scored in stoppage time to snatch a 3-2 win for Borussia Dortmund at Hoffenheim, to boost their top-four hopes.
Dortmund emerged victorious at the end of a match in which they led twice but kept letting their opponents back in.
Serhou Guirassy put the visitors in front after 20 minutes but missed a penalty later in the half.
Hoffenheim’s Adam Hlozek struck back after 61 minutes. Julian Brandt put Dortmund back in front with a beautiful volley on the 74th-minute mark but Hoffenheim equalised again through Pavel Kaderabek in the final minute.
Anton’s strike in the fifth minute of injury time moved Dortmund up to sixth, three points off fourth spot.
Freiburg won 1-0 at a 10-man Wolfsburg to climb past RB Leipzig into fourth, with Max Rosenfelder scoring the only goal of the match just after half-time.
Holstein Kiel kept their slim hopes of beating the drop alive with a 4-3 win at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach, with Japan forward Shuto Machino scoring the winner in stoppage time. — AFP
