MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane scored twice in the second half as the Bundesliga leaders were made to work hard for a 3-2 win over visitors St Pauli on Saturday to restore their six-point gap at the top going into the last seven matchdays.

Bayern, who face Inter Milan in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg on April 8, have 65 points, with second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, 3-1 winners at home to VfL Bochum on Friday, on 59.

“We have to continue and we are one game closer. We have to win another seven games,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.

But there was some bad news for the league leaders with defender Hiroki Ito, who came on in the 58th minute, suffering a foot injury late in the game. The Japan defender broke the same foot back in July and had only recently come back.

Bayern are already without injured defenders Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies.

The hosts took a 17th-minute lead when Harry Kane tapped in from a Michael Olise cross.

Kane, who is the league-leading scorer with 22 goals, has now netted against all 19 clubs he has faced in the Bundesliga, the second best all-time record behind retired Miroslav Klose.

The visitors, who had hit the crossbar earlier, levelled 10 minutes later from Elias Saad’s clever flick and gave Bayern a run for their money before Sane took action.

Bayern, looking for their first win in three Bundesliga matches, struck in the 53rd from yet another superb Olise cross for Sane to

drill in.

Jamal Musiala saw his 69th minute effort tipped onto the bar but Sane did better two minutes later, finishing off a quick move after a Kane cutback.

St Pauli’s Lars Ritzka unleashed an unstoppable shot in stoppage time to cut the deficit.

Elsewhere, RB Leipzig suffered a blow in the race for the Champions League with a 1-0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

A poacher’s finish from Alassane Plea saw Gladbach snatch a valuable three points and leapfrog Leipzig into fifth.

Meanwhile, Mario Gotze inspired Eintracht Frankfurt to a 1-0 win against ten-man VfB Stuttgart, strengthening their grip on a Champions League spot.

Gotze missed a sitter early in the second half, but made amends by starting and finishing a brilliant move for the winning goal.

In Saturday’s other match, Werder Bremen overtook Borussia Dortmund in mid-table thanks to a comfortable 3-0 win over bottom club Holstein Kiel.

Marvin Ducksch whipped a brilliant free-kick into the top corner from a tight angle to give Bremen the lead in the first half.

Felix Agu doubled the lead after the break with an equally elegant finish, curling the ball under the bar from the edge of the penalty area, before Marco Gruell made it three in added time.

Kiel are now five points adrift of safety after fellow strugglers Heidenheim snatched a 1-0 win away to VfL Wolfsburg thanks to a first-half penalty from Marvin Pieringer.

Augsburg’s Samuel Essende broke a Bundesliga record in his side’s 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim, scoring the fastest goal ever by a substitute.

Essende netted just 10 seconds after coming on at half-time, but Andrej Kramaric levelled from the spot later in the second half, ending a 683-minute run without conceding for Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2025