European football: Leverkusen remain unbeaten after 97th-minute equaliser
Bayer Leverkusen’s Josip Stanisic scored a 97th-minute goal for the German champions to rescue a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund and prevent Xabi Alonso’s side from suffering their first loss of the season.
Niclas Füllkrug gave Dortmund the lead in the 81st minute with a volley inside the left post, after Marcel Sabitzer teed him up with a lovely cushioned pass before the ball went in off the goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky’s gloves.
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But Stanisic levelled for Leverkusen in the seventh minute of stoppage time, heading home a Florian Wirtz corner to extend the newly crowned champions’ unbeaten run in all competitions to 45 games.
Leverkusen, who last weekend secured their first Bundesliga title with a 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen, are on 80 points from 30 games. Dortmund are fifth with 57 points, two points behind fourth-placed Leipzig.
Bremen ended Stuttgart’s 11-game unbeaten streak in the Bundesliga after Marvin Ducksch scored a memorable brace to seal a 2-1 win, sending the hosts eight points clear of the relegation playoff spot.
Jamie Leweling tripped Felix Agu in the box, resulting in a penalty which Ducksch converted into the bottom right corner in the 28th minute. He scored again in the 49th minute with a left-footed finish off Romano Schmid’s cross from the right. Stuttgart dominated possession and Deniz Undav, who hit the woodwork in the first half, scored from close range from Chris Führich’s cross in the 71st minute, but it was not enough to prevent the visitors’ first loss in the league since January.
Marvin Ducksch savours his decisive second goal. Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Elsewhere, Igor Paixão scored a second-half winner for 10-man Feyenoord as they edged NEC Nijmegen 1-0 to win the Dutch Cup in a game that had to be halted twice.
Paixão’s 59th-minute effort went in off the upright at the end of a sweeping move from Feyenoord, who finished the game with 10 men after Yankuba Minteh was sent off after receiving two cautions in as many minutes.
The match at De Kuip was halted twice after fireworks were set off and a giant banner caught fire, causing extensive smoke. The banner fell into the moat around the stadium and was extinguished by firefighters with no apparent danger to spectators.
The players were taken off the field with 55 minutes played in the game, spending time in the changing room before the match resumed, with the goal following shortly after. NEC had a first-half effort ruled out for offside, as did Feyenoord in the second.
In the first half, Nijmegen supporters were the cause of a short interruption after setting off large amounts of fireworks. Serdar Gözübüyük, the referee, stopped the game for two minutes.
In La Liga, Atlético Madrid suffered a 2-0 defeat at Alavés courtesy of a first-half goal from Carlos Benavídez and Luis Rioja’s superb late effort as the visitors missed the chance to cement their advantage in fourth place.
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Diego Simeone’s side were far from their best after being knocked out of the Champions League in midweek by Borussia Dortmund and remain on 61 points, seven behind Girona and only three clear of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao in the battle for the European spots.
The hosts grabbed the lead in the 15th minute when Benavídez pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the box to curl a fine low shot past Jan Oblak. Rioja’s stunning volley in stoppage time sealed a win that moved the Basque side further away from relegation as they climbed to 13th place with 35 points, 10 points clear of third-bottom Cádiz.
Gonçalo Ramos punches the air after scoring in PSG’s 4-1 win over Lyon. Photograph: Teresa Suárez/EPA
Paris Saint-Germain continued their march towards the Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 win at home against Lyon with all the goals coming in an explosive first half. The runaway leaders moved to 66 points, 11 ahead of second-placed Monaco with five matches left, while Lyon are eighth with 41 points.
PSG struck twice within six minutes with Nemanja Matic deflecting a cross into his own net after three minutes, before Lucas Beraldo doubled the hosts’ lead.
Gonçalo Ramos headed in the third goal for PSG after 32 minutes before Ernest Nuamah pulled one back for Lyon five minutes later with a well-placed shot into the corner from just outside the box.
Ramos scored his second three minutes before the break when he ran into the box unmarked to slide in a low cross. Both sides produced chances in the second half, but neither managed to add more goals. Lyon will have a chance for revenge when the two sides face each other in the French Cup final on 25 May.