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Leverkusen Beat Heidenheim To Go Eight Clear In Bundesliga
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Goals from Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli earned Leverkusen a 2-1 win at Heidenheim on Saturday, sending Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga leaders eight points clear of Bayern Munich in second.
Leverkusen’s win extended their unbeaten run to 32 games in all competitions this season, equalling the record set by Hansi Flick’s Bayern across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
Frustrated by the resolute hosts early, Leverkusen eventually broke through right before half-time when Frimpong’s deflected shot found the net.
Midfield maestro Florian Wirtz hit the crossbar late but helped seal the result shortly after, laying on a perfect pass for Adli to round the goalkeeper and score.
Heidenheim’s Tim Kleindienst headed in a goal with three minutes remaining, the first time Leverkusen had conceded in six hours in the league.
“Altogether we did it very smartly, other than the late goal we conceded,” Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka told Sky.
“The team is ripe. We showed again how dominant we can be.”
Second-placed Bayern, thumped 3-0 by Leverkusen last week, can narrow the gap when they play on Sunday at Bochum.
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig’s won 2-0 at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach in a match overshadowed by the death of a spectator who fell ill in the stands.
Leipzig tweeted during the game that medical staff had “tried to resuscitate” the individual but were unsuccessful.
Leipzig midfielder Xavi Simons gave his team the lead with a brilliant goal, bouncing a Dani Olmo pass off his thigh before unleashing a rocket from the edge of the box.
Lois Openda doubled Leipzig’s lead after 57 minutes, chipping over the goalkeeper’s head and into the goal.
Openda, who arrived from Ligue 1 side Lens in the summer, has 16 league goals this season and has scored in each of his past five games.
Leipzig’s win took them one point behind fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund, who drew 1-1 at struggling Wolfsburg, with home midfielder Yannick Gerhardt’s second-half header cancelling out an early Niclas Fuellkrug goal.
Having absorbed some early pressure from the hosts, Dortmund scored after eight minutes, Fuellkrug kneeing in a rebound from a Marco Reus shot on the counter.
Gerhardt equalised after a long interruption due to fan protests against an investor deal for the Bundesliga, heading in from close range after a deflected clearance from the Dortmund defence.
“We didn’t have enough chances on the whole,” said Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. “We are not satisfied with the point.”
Serhou Guirassy scored his first goal of the calendar year as 10-man Stuttgart won 2-1 at Darmstadt to go five clear of Dortmund in third.
Guirassy headed in from close range 15 minutes in for his 18th league goal of the season.
Both sides scored in second-half injury time as Stuttgart held on despite being reduced to 10 men late in the first half.
Union Berlin secured a crucial victory in their bid to avoid the drop, American midfielder Brenden Aaronson scoring late for a 1-0 win at Hoffenheim.
Both sides played the second half with 10 men after Hoffenheim’s Stanley Nsoki and Union’s Kevin Volland picked up second yellow cards just before half-time.
Union’s win took them eight points clear of the relegation spots in an increasingly crowded lower half of the table.
Mainz won just their second match of the season 1-0 at home over Augsburg, with Liverpool loanee Sepp van den Berg’s first-half strike enough despite Nadiem Amiri missing a penalty.
AFP
Spain’s World Cup-winning stars, Fabián Ruiz and Gavi, have been honoured with their combined weight in tomatoes by their hometown after helping the country lift the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The two players, who are from Los Palacios y Villafranca, a town south of Seville with a population of fewer than 40,000, returned home on Wednesday for an official civic reception at the town hall.
As part of the celebration, Ruiz and Gavi stepped onto weighing scales to determine the quantity of tomatoes they would receive in recognition of their achievement.
Ruiz received 85 kilograms of tomatoes, while Gavi was presented with 68.5 kilograms, bringing the total gift to more than 150 kilograms.
Local authorities described the presentation as a longstanding tradition that has become a symbol of the municipality’s recognition of its outstanding athletes.
Former Spain winger Jesús Navas, who became the first footballer from Los Palacios y Villafranca to win the FIFA World Cup in 2010, also attended the ceremony.
Navas and Ruiz had previously received the same honour after Spain won the UEFA Euro 2024 championship.
The town already has a sports pavilion named after Navas and Ruiz, while football pitches in the municipality will now be renamed in honour of Gavi to celebrate his achievements.
The town council also announced plans to construct a monument dedicated to Navas, Ruiz and Gavi in recognition of their contributions to Spanish football.
According to the council, the monument is intended to serve as a lasting tribute to the three champions, whom it described as the pride of the community and role models for younger generations through their sporting achievements and personal conduct.
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, is keen on signing John Stones or Ezri Konsa, following news that William Saliba will be out for an extended period.
Saliba has opted not to have surgery after injuring his back while playing for France at the 2026 World Cup.
But the 25-year-old defender is facing a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
Stones is available as a free agent, after he left Manchester City at the end of his contract.
The 32-year-old worked with Arteta during his time as assistant to Pep Guardiola at City.
Konsa, who represented England alongside Stones at the World Cup, has two years left on his contract at Aston Villa.
Both players can also operate at right-back.
British-Nigerian boxer Anthony Joshua has begun preparing for a fight with Tyson Fury by training with a specially made heavy bag replica of the Gypsy King, ahead of both men’s tune-up bouts this weekend.
Joshua and Fury have signed contracts to finally settle a decade’s worth of debate over a domestic showdown, but must first come through separate warm-up assignments, with Joshua facing Kristian Prenga on Saturday in Jeddah and Fury taking on 46-year-old veteran Mariusz Wach in Thailand.
Joshua’s first-ever boxing coach, Sean Murphy, unveiled the bespoke bag and told DAZN it had been designed specifically to resemble Fury, describing it as reproducing the Gypsy King’s chin for practice purposes.
Murphy said Joshua had provided all the bags currently hanging in the gym and had personally funded other refurbishments at the facility, including new ring covers and an overhaul of the female changing room.
Joshua, aged 36, has vowed never to overlook an opponent again after being stunned by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 while he had one eye on a prospective fight with Deontay Wilder, though with his Fury deal now signed, he is being careful not to look past Prenga.
The Saturday bout will be Joshua’s first contest since a car accident claimed the lives of two of his close friends, and comes ten days after he stopped Jake Paul in a heavily anticipated crossover fight.
Joshua is expected to dedicate victory over Prenga to his late friends as he continues plotting a route towards the long-awaited Battle of Britain with Fury, aged 37.
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