Late Guirassy goal seals Dortmund win
Serhou Guirassy scored late for Borussia Dortmund to cut Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga lead to three points with a 2-1 win at Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg dominated the second half with Mohamed Amoura missing several good chances and Maximilian Arnold striking the crossbar. Dortmund’s Maximilian Beier hit the underside of the bar with a deflected shot in the first half, when Julian Brandt opened the scoring with a header from Julian Ryerson’s corner in the 38th for the visitors.
Konstantinos Koulierakis replied in similar fashion after the break with a header from Arnold’s free kick, but Wolfsburg was to rue not taking its chances to score more. Guirassy pounced for the winner in the 87th after good play between Fabio Silva and Felix Nmecha. “That’s part of football,” Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said of his team’s scrappy win. “But then to decide it with one action is also a quality.” Eighteen-year-old Italian defender Luca Reggiani went on late for Dortmund for his Bundesliga debut.
American winger Kevin Paredes made his first Wolfsburg start since April 25 after recovering from two operations on his right foot. Bayern, which failed to win its last two games, can restore its six-point lead with a win over high-flying Hoffenheim on Sunday. Leverkusen drops points: Borussia Monchengladbach held Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw, ending the visitor’s four-game winning run across all competitions and dealing a blow to its Champions League qualification hopes.
Leverkusen moved to fifth, ahead of Leipzig on goal difference before the latter visits Cologne on Sunday. Bremen loses on coach’s debutWerder Bremen’s coaching change did little to alter its fortunes as the team lost 1-0 in Freiburg on Daniel Thioune’s debut. Jan-Niklas Beste let fly and found the top far corner in the 13th for Freiburg, which had Johan Manzambi sent off early in the second half for a foul on Bremen’s Olivier Deman. Thioune’s team was unable to capitalize on the extra player and is now 11 league games without a win.
Bremen faces a visit from Bayern next weekend. Welcome win for St. PauliSt. Pauli boosted its survival hopes with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Stuttgart. The Hamburg-based team remained second-from-bottom, but it opened a four-point gap on bottom side Heidenheim, which lost 2-0 at home to Hamburger SV. Bremen’s defeat means St. Pauli is just two points from the relegation playoff place.
Mainz keeps winningNadiem Amiri scored two penalties, one in each half, for Mainz to beat Augsburg 2-0 for its third straight win. Amiri ripped off his distinctive carnival-inspired jersey as he celebrated the second one to seal the win. The thoughtful Lee Jae-sung picked it up so he could resume when the celebrations died down.
