The Japan Times - Leverkusen held at Pauli to put Bayern on cusp of title

Leverkusen took the lead when Alex Grimaldo floated in a free kick and Patrik Schick did the rest, jumping high to score after 32 minutes.

The visitors however shut up shop in the second half, allowing Pauli to grab hold of the match, laying siege to Leverkusen's goal.

Morgan Guilavogui's 74th-minute strike looked to have levelled things up, but it was chalked off for handball. The hosts kept pushing and scored just three minutes later, Carlo Boukhalfa tapping in after Lukas Hradecky spilled a corner.

The result leaves Bayern eight clear of Leverkusen, with four games remaining. Bayern need just five points and can wrap things up as early as next week, if they win and Leverkusen lose.

Leverkusen also have other concerns, with reports that manager Xabi Alonso, who took the club to their first-ever German title last season, could be on his way to Real Madrid in the summer.

Despite their lowly league position, St Pauli's success this season has been built on a sturdy defence, with only Bayern and Leverkusen conceding fewer goals.

- Guirassy fires Dortmund -

Borussia Dortmund came from a goal down to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2, keeping alive their slim hopes of reaching the top four.

Serhou Guirassy, who scored a hat-trick in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Barcelona, was again key, scoring one and setting up another for Dortmund.

"We're much more secure and much more stable -- that's extremely important," Pascal Gross told DAZN. "We've got four 'finals' to go".

After a testy opening, Ko Itakura put Gladbach ahead after 24 minutes, playing a simple one-two with Kevin Stoeger to unlock the Dortmund defence.

Dortmund hit back with three goals in nine minutes before half-time.

Chelsea loanee Carney Chukwuemeka threaded the ball to Pascal Gross whose lateral pass found Guirassy, who swept home.

Chukwuemeka again started the move down the right flank, his pass reaching Yan Couto who, in turn, found Felix Nmecha who scored a carbon copy of the opener.

Dortmund turned the screw with Daniel Svensson heading in a rebound from a Guirassy shot just before half-time.

The visitors hit back when Germany striker Tim Kleindienst was felled in the box by Nmecha, with Stoeger making no mistake from the spot.

Dortmund snuffed out the comeback however and now sit in seventh, four points off fourth place, having been as low as 11th.

Earlier on Sunday, an exhausted Eintracht Frankfurt fought to a scoreless draw at Augsburg, days after their Europa League quarter-final loss to Tottenham.

Augsburg, who have climbed the Bundesliga in the second-half of the season. were the better side but could not break down the heavy-legged visitors.

Augsburg peppered Frankfurt's goal from a series of corners to close the first-half but the visitors held firm.

The injection of Ansgar Knauff at half-time gave Frankfurt a boost and the former Borussia Dortmund winger went close on 70 minutes, only for Augsburg's Cedric Zesiger to deny him with a last-ditch intervention.

Despite the draw, Frankfurt tightened their grip on third, four points clear of fifth-placed Freiburg, and are on course for their highest league finish in three decades.

Finishing in the top four would mean Frankfurt qualify for the modern Champions League for just the second time in their history, with the first coming after winning the Europa League in 2022. They reached the final of the old European Cup in 1960.

Augsburg have lost just one of their past 14 league games, conceding only seven goals in that run.

K.Abe--JT