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.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
RSS