Bayer Leverkusen restore 10-point lead at top of Bundesliga with Wolfsburg win
Leverkusen extended their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga this season to 25 matches and notched their sixth straight league win.
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Your support makes all the difference.Bayer Leverkusen regained their 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga by beating 10-man Wolfsburg 2-0 at BayArena.
Nathan Tella headed Xabi Alonso’s side into a first-half lead, nine minutes after Wolfsburg defender Moritz Jenz had been sent off for his second yellow card, and Florian Wirtz ensured maximum points with a late second.
Leverkusen extended their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga this season to 25 matches and notched their sixth straight league win to stay well in front of Bayern Munich, who thrashed Mainz 8-1 on Saturday.
Eintracht Frankfurt consolidated in sixth place after hitting back to win 3-1 at home against nine-man Hoffenheim.
United States defender John Brooks headed Hoffenheim into an early lead, but was shown a straight red card for his challenge on Omar Marmoush before Frankfurt equalised through on-loan Leeds centre-back Robin Koch.
Second-half goals from Dina Ebimbe and Mario Gotze put Frankfurt in control and Hoffenheim were then reduced to nine men when Ozan Kabak received his second yellow card.
Freiburg followed up their midweek Europa League win against West Ham with their first Bundesliga victory in seven matches, triumphing 2-1 at Bochum.
Real Madrid opened up a seven-point gap at the top of LaLiga after beating Celta Vigo 4-0 at the Bernabeu Stadium.
Vinicius Junior’s close-range finish gave Real a half-time lead and own goals from goalkeeper Vicente Guaita and Carlos Dominguez put Carlo Ancelotti’s side, without the suspended Jude Bellingham, in full control.
Turkey midfielder Arda Guler stepped off the bench to score his first goal for the club in stoppage time as Los Blancos extended their unbeaten league run to 22 matches.
Athletic Bilbao closed the gap on fourth-placed Atletico Madrid to two points after Gorka Guruzeta and Saul Coco’s own goal secured them a 2-0 win at Las Palmas.
Real Betis lost 3-2 at home to Villarreal with both sides ending the game with 10 men after Chimy Avila and Alberto Moreno were shown their second yellow cards after clashing in the second half.
Alexander Sorloth fired the winner for Villarreal three minutes before Avila and Moreno were sent off in the 70th minute.
Guido Rodriguez and Willian Jose twice put Betis ahead, with Alex Baena and a Sokratis Papastathopoulosown goal levelling in each half.
Andoni Gorosabel’s first goal for Alaves clinched them a 1-0 home win against Rayo Vallecano and lifted them 10 points clear of the drop zone.
AC Milan leapfrogged Juventus into second place in Serie A as Christian Pulisic’s solitary first-half goal sealed a 1-0 home win against Empoli.
Milan moved one point above Juve, who were held 2-2 at home by Atalanta.
Goals after the break from Juve pair Andrea Cambiaso and Arkadiusz Milik cancelled out Teun Koopmeiners’ opener for Atalanta, but the Netherlands midfielder struck again to earn the visitors a point.
Diego Llorente fired in a stoppage-time equaliser for Roma in a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina to lift Daniele De Rossi’s side up to fifth in the table.
Michael Folorunsho’s deflected shot sealed Verona a 1-0 win at Lecce and lifted his side out of the bottom three up to 13th in a congested bottom half of the table.
Verona striker Thomas Henry was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for violent conduct after clashing with Lecce defender Marin Pongracic.
In Ligue 1, Paris St Germain were held to a third successive domestic draw, 2-2 at home against Reims, as Kylian Mbappe started on the bench.
Mbappe, who is rumoured to have agreed to a deal to join Real Madrid in the summer and was withdrawn at half-time in last week’s 0-0 draw at Monaco, was a 73rd-minute substitute, but had few chances.
Marshall Munetsi gave Reims a shock early lead and, after Yunis Abdelhamid’s own goal and Goncalo Ramos had put PSG ahead, Oumar Diakite levelled for the visitors before the interval.
Monaco sit third, 11 points behind PSG, after Eliesse Ben Seghir’s second-half goal secured them a 1-0 win at Strasbourg.
Canada forward Jonathan David scored two late goals to earn Lille a 2-2 draw at Rennes and lift his side into the top four.
Lille trailed 2-0 at the interval through goals from Ludovic Blas and Arnaud Kalimuendo, but David struck in the 84th minute and then in stoppage time to salvage them a point.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit goals in either half as Marseille won 2-0 at home against Nantes.
Le Havre edged two points clear of the drop zone with a 1-0 home win against Toulouse and Metz boosted their survival hopes by beating fellow strugglers Clermont by the same score.