Bayern Munich strolled past Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0 on Saturday to stay clear in the Bundesliga, having been temporarily dislodged three hours earlier when Borussia Moenchengladbach clinched a 1-0 win over Nuremburg.
Moenchengladbach have not won the league since 1977 and their most recent honor, in 2008, was the second division trophy.
However, Belgian defender Filip Daem’s 76th-minute penalty was enough to ensure that the five-time champions enjoyed a few hours top of the heap before Bayern Munich ruthlessly brushed aside Leverkusen.
Bayern’s opening goal came on five minutes from Thomas Mueller, with Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten netting the second on 19 minutes to effectively put the match to bed.
Leverkusen had not won in Munich in 22 attempts and without their flu-ridden former Bayern star Michael Ballack they offered little resistance.
Bayern now lead the way with 18 points from seven games, two clear of Moenchengladbach, who notched their fifth win of the season as they look to get back in touch with past glories.
Reigning champions Borussia Dortmund had to scrap as they came from a goal down to win 2-1 at FSV Mainz 05.
Dortmund have been on the ropes this term, losing three of their opening six matches, but they showed some grit after Nikolai Muller had put Mainz into a 33rd-minute lead.
The win moved Dortmund up three places to eighth and also provided a welcome tonic ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League visit to Olympique de Marseille.
Like Dortmund, neighbors Schalke 04 have been bouncing around in mid-table, but Spanish veteran forward Raul celebrated being offered an extension to his current deal with a goal in a 4-2 home win over SC Freiburg.
The victory was likewise a major boost for the club after coach Ralf Rangnick quit on Thursday, citing fatigue, to become the second coach this week to part company with a Bundesliga side.
Elsewhere, Ashkan Dejagah was on the mark for 10-man VfL Wolfsburg in a 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern, while promoted Augsburg and Hanover 96 parted goalless.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but