Jamal Musiala’s stunning long-range goal gave Bayern Munich a 1-0 win at St Pauli on Saturday to move five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. While Bayern fought hard for a win in Hamburg, defending champions Bayer Leverkusen, second-placed RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund all lost points. St Pauli, who were promoted in the summer, fought hard against their favored opponents and were hoping to avoid a repeat of the 8-1 defeat they suffered last time Bayern visited.
Musiala, who scored the only goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Benfica, won the ball in the middle, advanced and flew in from just under 30 meters before his shot bounced off the crossbar.
The 21-year-old has scored five goals in his last four games since returning from a hip injury.
Musiala added in an interview with Sky Germany that he “didn’t know” he could shoot from such a distance. “I did some training to shoot from a distance… but not that far!”
“I was happy to come in today… it was my first goal from outside the box this season and I am always working on different things to improve myself.”
RB Leipzig were held to a goalless draw at home by Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Saxons’ third 0-0 league win this season.
Gladbach, floating mid-table, came out stronger in the first half, with German striker Tim Kleindienst blocking a shot in the 22nd minute and Frank Honorat hitting the crossbar.
Leipzig went on a second attack, and both Christoph Baumgartner and Reus Openda had good opportunities.
The draw means Leipzig have lost five points from their last six games and are in danger of losing touch with Bayern.
“We were giving everything but missing the last pass, that last bit of quality,” Leipzig striker Jussuf Poulsen told Sky.
“We wanted to win, we had the right attitude, but we needed more quality. We will work on it during the international break.”
You can get sent off, Dortmund loses.
Injured Dortmund lost again 3-1 to Mainz when Emre Can was sent off for attempting a stud tackle on Jae-Sung Lee in the 27th minute of the first half.
Can, playing in an unfamiliar centre-back position, was replaced by another midfielder, Felix Nmecha, who wrongly gave Mainz the opener and allowed an unmarked Lee Seung-yeop to head the ball home.
Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy scored the winner and converted a penalty to level the score, but Jonathan Burkardt put Mainz back in front just before half-time before Danny da Costa struck from close range. hit the pass.
Paul Nebel added a third goal early in the second period to give Mainz their first home win.
A frustrated Julian Brandt did not criticize the captain, saying “(Can) knows he should have been more careful and is annoyed by what he did… but that’s not why we conceded three goals.”
Dortmund, last season’s Champions League finalists, have lost their last six away games in all competitions.
Leverkusen’s title defense continued their poor performance with a 1-1 draw against last-place Bochum, who scored an equalizer in the last minute.
Leverkusen went ahead in the 18th minute when Florian Wirtz slid the ball across the turf and into the path of Patrik Schick to blast home.
The visitors looked to be on track for victory until Bochum’s Koji Miyoshi picked up a loose ball following a mistake by Jonathan Tah and slotted it into the near post.
Leverkusen captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecki called the late goal “a bitter slap in the face”.
Leverkusen are currently nine points behind Bayern and have lost 13 points this campaign, more than they scored in all 34 games last season.
The draw is only Bochum’s second point of the season after 10 games in their first match under veteran coach Dieter Hecking.
Elsewhere, Werder Bremen won 2-1 at home against Holstein Kiel thanks to an 89th-minute goal from Oliver Burke.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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