Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala on target to extend Bundesliga lead over Borussia Dortmund – European round-up
Bayern Munich extended their Bundesliga lead to six points with Jamal Musiala on target as they beat Mainz 2-1, while Borussia Dortmund were held by Bochum.
Karim Onisiwo headed Mainz into a surprise lead in
the 22nd minute in a stadium empty because of coronavirus restrictions, but Kingsley Coman levelled for Bayern just after the break. The 18-year-old Musiala earned Bayern the win with his sixth goal of the season in the 74th minute.
Bayern’s victory restored a commanding lead in their pursuit of a 10th consecutive Bundesliga title and all but ensured the team will take the symbolic prize of being top at the Christmas break with two games to go.
The Bundesliga no longer has the famed Ruhr derby rivalry between Dortmund and Schalke after relegation for the latter last season, but smaller neighbour Bochum proved more than competitive enough to trouble Dortmund and hold them to a 1-1 draw.
Dortmund were left aggrieved by the refereeing in their 3-2 Klassiker loss to Bayern last week when midfielder Jude Bellingham was fined for questioning the referee’s integrity and coach Marco Rose received a touchline ban.
The club were on the wrong side of some more crucial calls on Saturday. Referee Matthias Jollenbeck immediately pointed to the spot when Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel rushed out to close down Christopher Antwi-Adjei shortly before half-time and sent the winger flying.
Sebastian Polter converted the spot kick, sending Kobel the wrong way from 12 yards. Marius Wolf thought he had levelled for Dortmund in the 53rd minute, but a video review spotted an offside in the build-up.
Julian Brandt finally salvaged a draw in the 85th minute from an Erling Haaland cross.
RB Leipzig enjoyed a winning start to life under new coach Domenico Tedesco with a 4-1 victory over struggling Borussia Monchengladbach. Tedesco’s team ended a three-game losing streak in the Bundesliga which cost coach Jesse Marsch his job last week.
Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol opened the scoring for Leipzig from an Angelino free kick – his first goal since moving to Leipzig – and forward Andre Silva doubled the advantage 11 minutes later.
Ramy Bensebaini gave Gladbach brief hope of a comeback with a goal in the 88th minute but Christopher Nkunku and Benjamin Henrichs each scored for Leipzig in added time.
Defeat left Gladbach 13th and heaped more pressure on coach Adi Hutter. He delighted fans with a 5-0 demolition of Bayern in the German Cup in October but the team – in the Champions League as recently as last season – have lost seven of 15 Bundesliga games and were humbled 6-0 by Freiburg last week.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim left it late to beat Freiburg 2-1 and move up to fourth in the table through USA defender Chris Richards’ goal. Hertha Berlin’s new manager Tayfun Korkut picked up his first win in his second game in charge as his side beat Arminia Bielefeld 2-0.
Serie A: Juventus held by Venezia
Domestic problems deepened for Juventus as they were held 1-1 at relegation-threatened Venezia in Serie A.
Mattia Aramu scored in the second half for Venezia to cancel out Alvaro Morata’s opener.
Juventus qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League as a group winner midweek but it has been a different story in Serie A.
The Bianconeri are six points below fourth-placed Atalanta, who had a game in hand.
Juve started well in Venice and, despite an early blow when Paulo Dybala limped off injured, they took a deserved lead in the 32nd minute when Luca Pellegrini crossed from the left for Morata to flick in at the near post.
However, Juventus sat back too much and Venezia levelled 10 minutes into the second half as the Bianconeri failed to clear on the edge of the area and the ball came through for Aramu to fire into the bottom corner.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced an acrobatic volley to earn AC Milan a last-gasp 1-1 draw at Udinese.
The 40-year-old Swede wasted a glorious chance to open the scoring early on and that miss proved costly as Beto pounced to give Udinese the lead in the 17th minute.
For all their pressure after the break, Milan created few clear chances and looked to be heading for a third defeat in five league games in Udine.
However, Ibrahimovic had other ideas, as he sprang into action in the second minute of injury time to rescue an unlikely point for his team.
The draw moved Milan two points clear at the top of the Serie A standings, with second-placed Inter Milan playing Cagliari on Sunday.
Dusan Vlahovic scored twice while Giacomo Bonaventura and Youssef Maleh were also on target as Fiorentina moved up to fifth with a 4-0 win over bottom side Salernitana.
La Liga: Sevilla close gap on Real
Sevilla closed the gap on leaders Real Madrid to five points after a Thomas Delaney cracker sank Athletic Bilbao 1-0.
Delaney hit the 38th-minute winner against the run of play, curling a superb shot from the edge of the area into the top corner.
Espanyol won a seven-goal thriller at home to bottom side Levante. Sergi Darder fired the hosts into a sixth-minute lead only for Jorge De Frutos and Son to put Levante ahead at half-time.
Raul De Tomas equalised four minutes into the second half but Jose Luis Morales put Levante back into the lead. However, Javi Puado’s double made it 4-3 to Espanyol before Son was sent off towards the end.
A late Joselu equaliser gave Alaves a 1-1 draw against Getafe, for whom Enes Unai opened the scoring. Alaves lost Florian Lejeune to a red card in stoppage time.
Cristiano Piccini’s winner four minutes from time gave Valencia a 2-1 victory at home to Elche.JOIN NOW bet365
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