Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen beats Bayern 3-0 to open up 5-point Bundesliga lead

LEVERKUSEN, Germany — Alex Grimaldo scored as Bayer Leverkusen beat Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday to open up a five-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

It’s carnival season in the Rhineland, and Leverkusen fans, many of them in costume, had plenty to celebrate as Xabi Alonso’s team proved its title credentials. It was Leverkusen’s 31st game this season without a loss in all competitions.

After a kickoff delayed by fan protests, it was a Bayern player who scored the first goal — but he wasn’t playing for Bayern.

Right back Josip Stanisic, sent out on loan to Leverkusen at the start of the season, popped up at the far post to score off Robert Andrich’s low cross in the 18th minute after Bayern seemed to be taken by surprise by Leverkusen’s quick throw-in routine.

Stanisic put his hands up in apology and barely celebrated his first Bundesliga goal in nearly two years, though his teammates certainly did.

Leverkusen made it 2-0 with an incisive counter early in the second half, Grimaldo sprinting down the left flank and playing a one-two with Nathan Tella before lofting a shot over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Jeremie Frimpong added a third in stoppage time into the empty net after Neuer had gone up for a Bayern corner.

Bayern’s Sacha Boey, left, and Leverkusen’s Josip Stanisic challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Credit: AP/Martin Meissner

Harry Kane has scored 24 goals in 20 Bundesliga games since joining Bayern but had few chances to score as Leverkusen squeezed him out of the game.

Also Saturday, Union Berlin beat Wolfsburg 1-0 in a game that had repeated interruptions, about 30 minutes in total, as fans threw tennis balls onto the field in protest at the league’s planned investment deal.

The referee took the players to the locker rooms in the first half after stoppages to clear away tennis balls thrown by Union fans. When play resumed, there was another interruption when Wolfsburg fans threw more balls. Long-running protests against the German league’s plans to sell a stake of revenue to an outside investor have intensified as talks are held with prospective buyers.

Danilho Doekhi headed the only goal for Union in the 21st minute of first-half stoppage time.

Leverkusen’s head coach Xabi Alonso gestures during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Credit: AP/Martin Meissner

Fifth-place Leipzig drew 2-2 at Augsburg to lose more ground in the race for the Champions League places. Leipzig has four points from five games since the new year.

United States midfielder Lennard Maloney scored his first career Bundesliga goal for Heidenheim in a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt was held to a 1-1 draw by Bochum and Borussia Moenchengladbach and Darmstadt played out a 0-0 draw.