LEVERKUSEN, Germany: Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were held to a 2-2 home draw with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, failing to take advantage of Bayer Leverkusen’s slip-up earlier in the day.
After defending champions Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Union Berlin, Bayern knew a win would have moved them eight points clear with five games to play.
Dortmund took the lead through Maximilian Beier in the 48th minute but Bayern hit back with two goals in four minutes, before Waldemar Anton equalized for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining.
“We’ve moved a step closer to the championship and we’ve shown we can create plenty of opportunities,” said Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will leave the club after 25 years at the end of the season.
“That should help us in the Champions League on Wednesday,” Mueller added of next week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Inter Milan, with Bayern facing a 2-1 first-leg deficit,
“(We need) to be more clinical,” said Harry Kane. “We’ll have opportunities, it’s about taking them in the right moments.”
Usually the standout fixture on the German football calendar, the buzz around the match was comparatively muted.
The visitors, who trail Barcelona 4-0 in their Champions League quarter-final, arrived in Munich sitting nine spots and 27 points behind in the table.
Bayern, enduring an injury crisis, were camped out near Dortmund’s box for almost the entire first half.
Visiting goalkeeper Gregor Kobel needed to snuff out big chances for Kane and Michael Olize.
Seemingly on the ropes at half-time, Dortmund opened the scoring three minutes into the second period, Beier heading between Bayern goalkeeper Jonas Urbig’s legs to finish off a counter-attack.
With Dortmund in the ascendancy and probing for a second, Kompany brought on Serge Gnabry and the move worked a treat.
The former Arsenal winger created the equalizer for former Dortmund midfielder Raphael Guerreiro on 65 minutes and then scored a goal of his own four minutes later, slaloming through the visiting defense before hammering home.
Dortmund hit back to level again when Anton knocked in a rebound from a Serhou Guirassy shot.
Bayern remain six points ahead of Leverkusen and closing in on regaining the title.
Nursing an ongoing Achilles injury, Bayern center-back Kim Min-jae was substituted in the second half, leaving the Bavarians with just one fit central defender.
Despite welcoming back star midfielder Florian Wirtz from a foot injury, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen lacked fluency in attack, carving out few clear-cut opportunities against Union Berlin.
Wirtz came on after 57 minutes and despite giving his side an initial boost, was unable to break down Union’s defense.
Granit Xhaka had a free-kick from the edge of the box in stoppage time but blasted his shot well over the bar.
“We’re dropping too many points at home,” Leverkusen captain Hradecky said.
“Mathematically there’s a small chance (of defending the title), but the probability has decreased.”
The draw continues a poor April for last season’s unbeaten domestic double winners, who were eliminated from the German Cup semifinals by third-division Arminia Bielefeld.
The draw lifted Union to 34 points, 12 clear of the relegation play-off spot.
The Berliners have taken 11 points from an unbeaten five-game run against Leverkusen, Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg and Wolfsburg.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s hopes of returning to the Champions League took a hit with a 2-1 home loss to Freiburg.
Freiburg snatched all three points when Johan Manzambi scored a 90th-minute header, allowing the visitors to leapfrog their opponents into sixth.
Augsburg continued their strong 2025 with a 2-1 win at lowly Bochum, climbing past Dortmund into eighth. Augsburg have only lost one of their past 13 games.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim took a step toward beating the drop with a 2-0 home win over Champions League hopefuls Mainz, with Andrej Kramaric scoring a brace.
St. Pauli also boosted their hopes of top-division football next season with a 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Holstein Kiel.

RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Al-Nassr to a 2-1 win over Al-Riyadh on Saturday to move his team to within a point of second-placed Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League and eight behind leaders Al-Ittihad. 

Those two goals from the megastar, 22 and 23 in the league season so far, not only keep the 40-year-old on top of the scoring standings but, more importantly, mean that the Yellows are, just, in the race for the title with seven games to go.

It was looking very different at the end of the first half however, as Al-Nassr fell a goal behind just before the break. Faiz Selemani made the breakthrough, reacting quickly to score a rebound after Nassr goalkeeper Bento had parried a long-range shot from Abdullah Al-Khaibari into his path. 

While the home fans were stunned, a certain five-time Ballon d’Or winner sprung into action four minutes before the hour.  Sadio Mane, on the left byline, sent a pass across the edge of the six-yard box for the former Real Madrid and Manchester United legend to score from close range.

Four minutes after then hour, Ronaldo produced a spectacular winner. A clearance looped up to the Portuguese star on the edge of the area and he then smashed an unstoppable volley into the top corner for what will surely be one of the goals of the season.

There was still time for Ronaldo and Jhon Duran to go close to sealing the win and Ibrahim Bayesh almost claimed a point for Riyadh before the woodwork intervened. A late red card for Ahmed Asiri ended the visitors' quest for a point however.

Al-Nassr also moved five points clear of the two teams in fourth and fifth. Al-Ahli won on Friday while Al-Qadsiah’s hopes of a top three finish were dented with a 2-1 defeat at Al-Fayha.

The hosts took the lead just after the half-hour through Renzo Lopez but the visitors, who would have moved to within three points of Al-Hilal with a win, dominated most of the possession and chances but just could not find the back of the net. 

Their misery was complete as Lopez added a second just before the hour, which meant that a 93rd minute goal from Julian Quinones was just a consolation.