Bayern Munich took another small step toward an unprecedented fourth successive Bundesliga title with a hard-fought scoreless draw at closest rival Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Bayern, which had a healthy eight-point lead before Wednesday’s shock home defeat to FSV Mainz 05, preserved the five-point gap with nine games remaining.
Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal came closest to scoring for either side in the 65th minute when Dortmund ’keeper Roman Buerki produced a fine reflex save to deflect his shot onto the crossbar.
Photo: EPA
“I am happy the ball did not go in,” said Buerki, who also got the better of Douglas Costa in a one-on-one in the first half, but had a shaky start to the game.
“There are always things you can improve upon,” he said.
Buerki conceded the title was less likely with Dortmund having failed to narrow the deficit and now needing two slip-ups from Bayern.
“It is the same as before the game, five points. We will try and win all our games,” the Dortmund ’keeper said.
The visitors had 17 efforts at goal, compared with Dortmund’s 11. League top-scorer Robert Lewandowski was quiet on his return to his former club, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was unable to seriously trouble Manuel Neuer at the other end.
It was the first 0-0 draw in 26 competitive meetings between the rivals.
Thomas Mueller missed the first big chance in the fifth minute when he fired high and wide after Buerki failed to deal properly with Costa’s cross.
Neuer denied Aubameyang on a quick break at the other end minutes later and the tone was set for the game, with both sides’ high tempo creating chances at either end.
Vidal had another good chance before Erik Durm hit the side-netting with Dortmund’s next opportunity.
The outstanding Joshua Kimmich, filling in for Bayern’s defense, made a brilliant last-ditch tackle to deny Marco Reus before Buerki thwarted Costa.
Bayern grew stronger as the game progressed, but Buerki shut the door with his reflex save.
“Nil-nil is definitely a result we can live with. I would like to have seen our efforts rewarded with a 1-0 win,” said Mueller, who said the league was not won yet.
“It stays exciting. We are still under pressure for the remaining games,” he said.
Earlier, Claudio Pizarro scored his 100th Bundesliga goal for Werder Bremen in a 4-1 win over last-place Hannover 96 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen came from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Augsburg.
South Korean midfielder Koo Ja-cheol’s hat-trick was not enough for Augsburg as Hakan Calhanoglu’s injury-time penalty earned Leverkusen an unlikely draw and prevented the team from slumping to their fourth straight defeat.
Jeffrey Gouweleeuw was sent off for conceding the hand-ball penalty in the 92nd minute, 12 minutes after Paul Verhaegh’s own-goal put Leverkusen in touching distance. Karim Bellarabi started the comeback with a 30 minutes remaining.
Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt was not in the stadium to see any of it after leaving for Spain to watch Europa League opponent Villarreal in action against UD Las Palmas.
Veteran Peruvian striker Pizarro scored one goal — his 11th of the season and fifth in three games — and set up another to boost Bremen’s hopes of avoiding the drop.
Fin Bartels opened the scoring before Pizarro made it 2-0 with a brilliant strike in the 26th.
The 37-year-old lifted the ball over two Hannover defenders with his right boot and smacked it past the goalkeeper with his left.
Kenan Karaman pulled one back, but Pizarro set up Theodor Gebre Selassie in the 56th. Zlatko Junuzovic sealed it.
Defeat piles the pressure on former Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf, now in charge of Hannover and eight points from safety.
Also, Schalke 04 won 3-1 at Cologne to move to fourth, going ahead on a second-minute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar penalty and 23rd-minute Max Meyer strike. Leonardo Bittencourt pulled one back 10 minutes later, but Franco Di Santo headed Schalke’s winner in the 76th.
VfL Wolfsburg defeated Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1, VfB Stuttgart routed TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 5-1, and Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1 with Ingolstadt 04, which finished with 10 men after Pascal Gross’ 74th-minute sending off.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to