Plus: Neymar is sent off on his return from injury as Paris Saint-Germain are beaten by Ligue 1 title rivals Lille; Inter Milan eight points clear at the top of Serie A; Borussia Dortmund's top-four hopes suffer a blow in a 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt
Saturday 3 April 2021 22:21, UK
Leon Goretzka's first-half goal was enough to give Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich a crucial 1-0 victory at second-placed RB Leipzig on Saturday, as they opened up a seven-point lead at the top and edged closer to a ninth straight league crown.
Leipzig were the better team but were wasteful. In contrast, the Bavarians, without injured top scorer Robert Lewandowski, were brutally efficient to earn the three points after Goretzka fired in from Thomas Mueller's 15th assist of the season.
No team has lost the title after leading by seven points after the 27th matchday and with seven games remaining.
The visitors had few chances throughout and survived a second-half siege as Leipzig squandered a quartet of golden opportunities in a powerful start after the break.
Neither Christopher Nkunku nor Dani Olmo and Marcel Sabitzer managed to hit the target.
The latter did better on the hour with a long-range effort that forced Bayern 'keeper Manuel Neuer to make a fine save as he tipped the ball over the bar, but the hosts could not find an equaliser.
Bayern, who face PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, are on 64 points, with Leipzig second on 57 points.
Eintracht Frankfurt striker Andre Silva headed in an 87th-minute winner to stun hosts Borussia Dortmund 2-1 and give his team a major boost in their bid for a top-four finish and a spot in next season's Champions League.
The Portuguese headed in a Filip Kostic cross at the far post for his 22nd league goal of the season to lift Frankfurt to 50 points in fourth place, seven ahead of Borussia Dortmund in fifth.
Frankfurt went in front as Dortmund's Nico Schulz wrongfooted his own keeper with a header in the 11th minute. The visitors were also unlucky not to be awarded a penalty for a clear handball by Thomas Delaney.
Instead, it was Dortmund who scored on the stroke of half-time when Mats Hummels turned in the box to volley in the equaliser.
Frankfurt were sharper after the break, however, bagging a deserved winner after coming close through Silva, Kostic and Stefan Ilsanker in a strong second-half display.
Marcus Thuram scored twice as Borussia Monchengladbach came from behind to beat Freiburg 2-1. Keven Schlotterbeck thought he had equalised in injury time for Freiburg, but the goal was ruled out through VAR for an offside call.
Elsewhere, third-placed Wolfsburg were 1-0 winners against Cologne, while Augsburg and Bayer Leverkusen were 2-1 winners against Hoffenheim and Schalke respectively. Mainz also drew 1-1 with Bielefeld.
Real Madrid forwards Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema struck to give their side a 2-0 win at home to Eibar, keeping up the pressure on leaders Atletico Madrid ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Liverpool.
Asensio finally gave Madrid the lead late in the 41st minute after his side had two goals ruled out for offside, latching on to a Casemiro through ball and curling his effort into the bottom corner despite losing his footing as he took the shot.
After controlling the first half, Real struggled for a long spell in the second as torrential rain poured down on the Alfredo di Stefano stadium and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois almost committed a howler when he miscontrolled a back-pass, but managed to kick the ball away just before it crossed the line.
Real then had a goal ruled out for offside for the third time but eventually got the all-important second goal when Benzema headed home a cross from Vinicius Jr. in the 73rd minute.
Elsewhere, Gerard Moreno scored a hat-trick in Villarreal's 3-0 win at Granada, taking his tally to 19 goals in La Liga this season. Osasuna and Granada played out a goalless draw.
Romelu Lukaku scored his 20th Serie A goal of the season to earn Inter Milan a 1-0 win at Bologna and send them eight points clear at the top of the table.
The Belgian struck after 32 minutes to become the seventh player in Inter's 113-year history to reach the 20-goal mark in two consecutive Serie A seasons, after notching 23 in his debut campaign last year.
Lautaro Martinez rattled the post for the visitors with the best chance of the second half, as Bologna were let down by poor shooting accuracy in their efforts to draw level.
Inter are on 68 points, eight ahead of second-placed rivals AC Milan, and will extend that lead to 11 points if they win their game in hand against Sassuolo on Wednesday. Bologna remain 11th with 34 points.
Juventus needed a 79th-minute equaliser from Cristiano Ronaldo to rescue a 2-2 draw in the Turin derby against relegation-battling Torino, leaving the champions' Serie A title defence in tatters.
The pressure was on Andrea Pirlo's side to produce a convincing performance after suffering a 1-0 loss to lowly Benevento before the international break, and they started strongly as Federico Chiesa scored after 13 minutes.
But striker Antonio Sanabria soon headed Torino level, before latching onto a careless Dejan Kulusevski back-pass to fire his side in front in the opening minute of the second half.
Ronaldo headed in from close range to equalise but he was flagged for offside, before a VAR review overturned the decision and allowed the goal.
Juve slipped to fourth place on 56 points, while Torino moved onto 24 points, two clear of the relegation zone in 17th place.
AC Milan's faltering title hopes diminished further after a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Sampdoria.
Jens Petter Hauge rescued a point for Milan three minutes from time and the Rossoneri almost snatched all three points but Franck Kessie's effort came off the post.
Fabio Quagliarella had scored in the 57th minute following a horrendous Milan error, but Sampdoria midfielder Adrien Silva was sent off two minutes later.
Napoli survived a spirited fightback from bottom side Crotone to earn a 4-3 win and go fourth in Serie A, as the fierce battle for Champions League qualification continued.
Lorenzo Insigne and Victor Osimhen struck for the hosts before Simy pulled one back, but Dries Mertens free-kick restored Napoli's two-goal cushion before the break.
The visitors launched a comeback in the second half as Simy prodded in his second before Junior Messias curled in a stunning equaliser in the 59th minute.
Nigeria international Simys double continued a superb run of form that makes him the top scorer in Europe's top-five leagues since the start of March with eight goals.
But the relegation battlers could not hold on as Giovanni Di Lorenzo rifled in a shot to put Gennaro Gattuso's side back in front after 72 minutes.
Atalanta beat Udinese 3-2. Luis Muriel struck twice in the first half to take his tally to 18 league goals for the season before Udinese's Roberto Pereyra pulled one back.
Duvan Zapata drilled in Atalanta's third before Luca Gotti's side reduced the deficit again on the 71st minute through Jens Stryger Larsen.
Lazio clinched a vital win and climbed into sixth place as Felipe Caicedo scored an 88th-minute penalty to beat Spezia 2-1 in Rome.
Manuel Lazzari's opener was cancelled out by a spectacular bicycle kick from Spezia substitute Daniele Verde before the late spot-kick, but Lazzari and Joaquin Correa were sent off for the home side in stoppage time.
The Roman club moved up to 52 points, one above Roma who were held to a 2-2 draw by Sassuolo.
Lorenzo Pellegrini's penalty edged Roma ahead at half-time in an entertaining game. Hamed Traore equalised after the break before Bruno Peres restored the visitors advantage, but Giacomo Raspadori fired home an equaliser for Sassuolo five minutes from time.
Elsewhere, relegation battlers Benevento and Parma played out a 2-2 draw, Hellas Verona went seventh with a 2-0 win at Cagliari and Franck Ribery was sent off during Fiorentina's 1-1 draw at Genoa on Giuseppe Iachini's return as Viola coach.
Neymar was sent off on his return from injury as PSG slipped up 1-0 at home to Lille, who surged three points clear at the top of Ligue 1.
Mauricio Pochettino's side started the afternoon level on points with their title rivals but ran into a supremely organised Lille side who took the lead on 20 minutes through Jonathan David.
Neymar was sent off when he picked up a second yellow card for shoving Tiago Djalo as the clock approached 90 minutes. Djalo was also dismissed during the incident and had to be escorted from the pitch following a foul-mouthed rant at the decision.
Pochettino, who was appointed in January, has now seen his side lose their last three games at home in Ligue 1 as both Monaco and Lille have chances of dethroning the current champions. Monaco moved up to third on 62 points - one point behind PSG - with a 4-0 thrashing of Metz.
Monaco, which have now lost only once in 16 league games, struck a double blow early in the second half. Cesc Fabregas scored a penalty in the 49th minute after forward Stevan Jovetic was fouled, and striker Kevin Volland finished confidently two minutes later from Belgian midfielder Eliot Matazos pass.
Striker Wissam Ben Yedder was surprisingly left on the bench but came on to notch a fine third when he cut inside a defender and thumped the ball under the crossbar.
Ben Yedder was fouled by central defender John Boye and took the penalty to make it 4-0 in the 88th minute and move onto 15 league goals, one more than Volland.
In the late game, Lyon secured a late point against Lens, although ended the game with ten men when Islam Slimani was sent off in the 91st minute.
