HEIDENHEIM: Reig­ning champions Bayer Leverkusen needed a stoppage-time goal from substitute Emiliano Buendia to snatch a 1-0 win over hosts Heidenheim on Saturday to keep their Bundesliga title hopes alive and stay six points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

Xabi Alonso’s team still looked to be feeling the effects of Tuesday’s shock German Cup semi exit to third-tier club Arminia Bielefeld until Buendia curled a shot in second-half stoppage time.

The hosts had a much livelier first half and a string of clear chances, including one through Adrian Beck who narrowly missed the target in the 17th, with Leverkusen lacking any punch up front.

Heidenheim also hit the crossbar through Benedikt Gimber in the 28th.

Alonso bro­ught on fresh legs in Arthur and Patrik Schick in the 68th minute but it was substitute Bue­ndia who scored the winner.

“We really did not play a good game and never got into our rhythm,” Leverk­usen defender Jonathan Tah said. “In the end we had that bit of luck because we kept at it and kept believing in ourselves.”

Champions Leverkusen are in second place on 62 points, six behind leaders Bayern Munich, with six matches left to play.

Elsewhere, goals from Karim Adeyemi, Carney Chu­kwuemeka, Serhou Guirassy and Jamie Gitt­ens took Borussia Dortmund to a dominant 4-1 win at Freiburg, days out from their Champions League trip to Barcelona.

“It’ll be a difficult week, but every game is winnable,” Dortmund’s Pascal Gross said of the Barcelona challenge.

The win moved Dortm­und to eighth, one spot beh­ind Freiburg and five points behind fourth-pla­ced Mai­nz, who drew 1-1 at home with lowly Holstein Kiel.

Kiel, promoted to the top division for the first time this season, took the lead thanks to a fine first-half strike from Alexander Bernhardsson, but Nelson Weiper drew Mainz level with 15 minutes remaining.

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig won their first match since dismissing coach Marco Rose, coming from behind to beat a 10-man Hoffe­nheim at home 3-1 thanks to goals from Benjamin Sesko, Ridle Baku and Yussuf Poulsen.

Hoffenheim took the lead thanks to a swerving strike from the Bayern-bound Tom Bischof 11 minutes in, but lost Leo Ostigard to a last-man foul with 28 minutes played.

Leipzig jumped up to fifth with the win, a point behind fourth, while Hoffenheim are five points clear of Heidenheim in the relegation playoff spot.

VfB Stuttgart kept with­in sight of the Euro­pean placings with a dominant 4-0 win at Bochum.

The win took Stuttgart to ninth, six points behind the Champions League spots.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2025