An incredible long-range goal from Jamal Musiala took Bayern Munich five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table with a 1-0 win at St Pauli on Saturday, as their major title rivals stumbled.
While Bayern fought hard to win in Hamburg, defending champions Bayer Leverkusen, second-placed RB Leipzig, and Borussia Dortmund all dropped points.
St Pauli, promoted in the summer, fought hard against their heavily favoured opponents and wanted to avoid a repeat of the 8-1 thrashing handed out last time Bayern visited.
Musiala, who scored the only goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Benfica, won the ball centrally before advancing and letting fly from just under 30 metres, his shot bouncing in off the crossbar.
The 21-year-old now has scored five in his past four games since returning from a hip injury.
Musiala told Sky Germany he “didn’t know” he could shoot from such a distance, adding: “I’ve practiced a bit in training to shoot from distance… but not that far!
“That it went in today made me happy… It was my first goal from outside the box this season and I’m always trying to work on different things to improve myself.”
RB Leipzig were held to a scoreless draw at home with Borussia Moenchengladbach, the Saxons’ third 0-0 in the league this season.
Gladbach, floating in mid-table, were stronger in the opening half, Germany striker Tim Kleindienst having a shot saved on the 22nd-minute mark and Franck Honorat hitting the crossbar.
Leipzig kicked into gear in the second, Christoph Baumgartner and Lois Openda both spurning good chances for the opener.
The draw means Leipzig have dropped five points in their past six games and are in danger of losing touch with Bayern.
“We threw everything into it but we were missing the last pass, the last bit of quality,” Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen told Sky.
“We wanted the win, we had the right attitude but we needed a bit more quality — we’ll work on it over the international break.”
Injury-hit Dortmund suffered yet another setback, losing 3-1 at Mainz after Emre Can was sent off in the 27th minute for a studs-up tackle on Lee Jae-sung.
Can, playing in the unfamiliar centre-back position, was replaced by Felix Nmecha, another midfielder, who was at fault for Mainz’s opener, allowing an unmarked Lee to head in.
Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy won and converted a penalty to level things up but Jonathan Burkardt put Mainz back in front just before half-time, slamming in a Danny da Costa pass from close range.
Paul Nebel added a third early in the second period to put Mainz on course for their first home win.
A frustrated Julian Brandt did not point the finger at his captain, saying “(Can) knows he has to be a bit more careful and he’s annoyed about what he did… but that’s not why we conceded three goals.”
Champions League finalists last season, Dortmund have lost their past six away games in all competitions.
Leverkusen’s title defence continued to stutter with a 1-1 draw at last-placed Bochum, who equalised in the final minute.
Leverkusen were ahead from the 18th minute onwards after Florian Wirtz slid a ball across the turf and into the path of Patrik Schick, who blasted home.
The visitors seemed on track for victory until Bochum’s Koji Miyoshi popped up to grab a loose ball after a mistake from Jonathan Tah and slide it in at the near post.
Leverkusen captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky called the late goal “a bitter slap in the face”.
Leverkusen are now nine points behind Bayern and have dropped 13 points this campaign, more than they did across all 34 games last season.
The draw was just Bochum’s second point this season after 10 games in their first match under veteran coach Dieter Hecking.
Elsewhere, Werder Bremen won 2-1 at home against Holstein Kiel thanks to an 89th-minute goal from Oliver Burke.