LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) – Ernest Poku continued his fine goalscoring run as Bayer Leverkusen bounced back from a heavy loss to Paris Saint-Germain to beat Freiburg 2-0. Bundesliga on sunday.
The first match since Lost to PSG 7-2 Leverkusen look like a completely different team as Kasper Hjurmand’s unbeaten start as manager comes to an end, ending Freiburg’s eight-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Poku opened the scoring with a deft one-two with Aleix García, running onto the ball on the edge of the area and unleashing a powerful shot.
The move takes the speedy Dutch midfielder Poku to three goals and one assist in his last four Bundesliga games, settling in after a rocky start to life at Leverkusen. Poku signed In August, as part of Leverkusen’s rebuilding under Dutch coach Erik ten Hag. fired In less than three weeks.
Defender Edmond Tapsova, one of the few remaining players from Leverkusen’s title-winning season under Xabi Alonso, extended the lead to two points with a towering header in the 52nd minute. Freiburg’s hopes of a comeback all but ended when Philipp Lienhardt was sent off for a second yellow card.
There was a further boost for Leverkusen as Czech striker Patrik Schick came off the bench in his first game in a month after suffering a thigh injury. Leverkusen ended the day in fifth place, seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Freiburg is 11th.
Unduff lifts Stuttgart to victory
Deniz Undav’s first goal of the season gave Stuttgart a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over 16th place Mainz, dropping them to third place in the league.
Unduff, who has had an injury-plagued season so far, broke through the Mainz defense in the 80th minute, ran onto a long ball from Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel and flicked his shot over Robin Zentner and into the Mainz goal.
Stuttgart’s Dan-Axel Zagadou headed the ball into the arm of teammate Chema Andres as he tried to clear a long throw, and Nadiem Amiri gave Mainz the lead with a penalty in the 41st minute.
Stuttgart’s Chris Fürich took the last kick of the first half with a long, spilling shot that went past Zetner and tied the score.
Much of the first half was played in a subdued atmosphere as fans of both teams reacted to a medical emergency caused by a Mainz fan, and at half-time it was announced that the supporter was in stable condition and was headed to hospital.
The two teams will meet again on Wednesday when Mainz hosts Stuttgart in the second round of the German Cup.
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