Bayer Leverkusen’s sloppy performance in their 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday that included conceding a 90th-minute equaliser was down to the German champions’ weak defending, coach Xabi Alonso said.
Werder twice came from a goal down to snatch a point and leave Leverkusen with a third draw in their last four league games. “The fact that Werder could come back was down to both sides,” Alonso, who led his team to an unbeaten domestic league and cup double last season, said. “We were too soft in defending and they used their chances.
“We can and must defend better. At the moment we are missing a bit of stability. When we win it back, then we will improve. We cannot be satisfied having twice wasted a lead. It is not the first time this has happened to us this season. There are things we need to correct.”
Leverkusen’s latest slip-up in the league has left them five points off leaders RB Leipzig in third place. They also drew 1-1 at Brest in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“This feels like crap,” central defender Jonathan Tah said. “Like a defeat. We just have to keep defending until the last second. The goals we let in were frustrating. I feel responsible. But we will get the chance to silence those talking about us now.”
RB Leipzig provisionally took over top spot on 20 points with a 3-1 home victory over Freiburg. Bayern Munich, who are in second on 17, are in action at Bochum on Sunday.
Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg and were left with 10 men as they suffered two defeats in five days.
Alexis Claude-Maurice struck twice for Augsburg as Dortmund lost again after Tuesday’s 5-2 reverse at Real Madrid, having blown a 2-0 lead in the Champions League trip to Spain.
Dortmund, Champions League finalists last season, have not won any of their four away games in the Bundesliga this season and remain in seventh place on 13 points after two defeats and a win in their last three league games.
The latest loss also piles the pressure on coach Nuri Sahin, in his first season in charge, after he was heavily criticised for his team wasting their 2-0 lead over Real and conceding five goals in the second half.
Dortmund had the perfect start as they struck on the break with Donyell Malen slotting in for a fourth-minute lead. But there was little else that came from the Dortmund attack in the first half and Augsburg got an unexpected equaliser in the 25th when Claude-Maurice broke through, found no resistance from four players and lots of space to drill in from 25 yards out.
The Frenchman, making his first league start for Augsburg, netted a second to complete the comeback five minutes after the restart, curling a low shot home from the edge of the box.
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Dortmund, who are in action in the German Cup against Wolfsburg next week, had substitute Almugera Kabar sent off for a second booking on his league debut in stoppage time. They also had to take off Waldemar Anton and Julian Ryerson due to injuries.
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In Serie A, a second-half goal from Giovanni Di Lorenzo was enough to earn Napoli a 1-0 win over struggling Lecce on Saturday, and the home side extended their unbeaten league run to eight games to stretch their lead at the top.
Napoli move on to 22 points, five ahead of the defending champions Inter, who take on third-placed Juventus in Sunday’s Derby d’Italia.
Di Lorenzo, who had a goal disallowed in the first half, bundled the ball into the net in the 73rd minute after his initial effort had been saved, and it proved enough to take all three points at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Napoli are back in action on Tuesday, away to Milan, who are not playing this weekend after Saturday’s game at Bologna was postponed due to flooding.
