Leverkusen win to go one point behind Bayern, Kiel Down Dortmund

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ADDS Schick quotes

A second-half goal from Alex Grimaldo sent Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-0 home win over Mainz, closing the gap on league leaders Bayern Munich to a point.

Borussia Dortmund’s struggles in the league continued with a 4-2 loss at Holstein Kiel earlier on Tuesday, turning up the heat on under-fire coach Nuri Sahin.

In Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso’s defending champions were dominant against an in-form Mainz but were held at bay until Grimaldo produced a stunning free-kick after 48 minutes.

The Spanish defender lifted the shot over the Mainz wall and beyond the outstretched palm of Robin Zentner, his 12th goal on his 50th Bundesliga appearance.

“He always does that, also in training – it wasn’t a surprise,” Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick said of Grimaldo’s strike.

Florian Wirtz, who won the free kick, together with Nathan Tella and Jeremie Frimpong, had all late chances saved.

Leverkusen’s 10th straight win in all competitions moved them to 38 points and handed the gauntlet to Bayern, who face Hoffenheim at home on Wednesday.

Mainz, who lost coach Bo Henriksen to two consecutive yellow cards for backchat in stoppage time, remain in fifth place despite the loss.

Eintracht Frankfurt produced a second-half display to beat Freiburg 4-1 at home, Omar Marmoush getting on the scoresheet again.

Marmoush, heavily linked with a winter move to Manchester City, scored Frankfurt’s second-place finish, while Robin Koch, Hugo Ekitike and Nnamdi Collins all got on the scoresheet for the third-placed home side.

Dortmund were heavily favored over their promoted opponents, who are second to bottom in the table, but were overtaken when Kiel scored three goals in 22 first-half minutes.

Shuto Machino, Phil Harres and Alexander Bernhardsson found the net to have Kiel up by three at the break.

Dortmund’s Gio Reyna and Jamie Gittens scored in the second half but the visitors could not mount an unlikely comeback, with Jann-Fiete Arp scoring Kiel’s fourth in stoppage time.

Captain Emre Can said Dortmund’s problems had “nothing to do with the coach – we as players are responsible”.

“With all due respect to Kiel, we can’t play like that. It’s a matter of honour,” added the 31-year-old.

Kiel have now won two of their last three to boost their chances of avoiding direct relegation.

With half the season played, Dortmund are in ninth place, 14 points behind league leaders Bayern.

Questions will continue to be asked of coach Sahin, who replaced Edin Terzic this summer, despite the latter taking Dortmund to the Champions League final in June.

With missing striker Donyell Malen joining Aston Villa just an hour before kick-off, Sahin handed teenage striker Julien Duranville a starting XI debut.

In cold, misty conditions on Germany’s north coast, Dortmund dominated possession for most of the first half hour but were unable to break through the stubborn hosts.

With 27 minutes gone, Kiel forced Julian Brandt into a foul near his own penalty area, Bernhardsson then found Machino who blasted in the opener.

Harres, a fourth division player this time last season, doubled Kiel’s lead with a clever header on the counter soon after.

Kiel hit a third just before half-time, Bernhardsson tapping in a Harres cross to send Dortmund reeling.

Despite goals from Reyna and Gittens inside the final 20 minutes, Dortmund were unable to find an equalizer even when Kiel’s Lewis Holtby was red-carded with four minutes remaining.

Local boy Arp then struck in the eighth minute of stoppage time to secure a famous Kiel victory.

Elsewhere, Wolfsburg thumped Borussia Moenchengladbach 5-1 at home, with Lukas Nmecha scoring twice in four second-half minutes.

Wolves, under former Southampton and RB Leipzig boss Ralph Hasenhuettl, have now won six of their last eight to sit in sixth place.

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