AUGSBURG, Germany: Bayer Leverkusen’s hopes of a second consecutive Bundesliga title faded with a 1-1 draw at St. Pauli on Sunday.
Patrik Schick put Leverkusen ahead in the first half but Carlo Boukhalfa equalized in the 78th to leave the defending champion eight points behind Bayern Munich with four rounds remaining.
Bayern, which beat Heidenheim 4-0 on Saturday, could clinch the title on Saturday if it beats Mainz and Leverkusen loses to Augsberg.
Last season, Leverkusen completed an unprecedented unbeaten Bundesliga season for its first Germany league title — and also went unbeaten to lift the German Cup.
Dortmund wins after Champions League elimination
Borussia Dortmund beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 in Dortmund’s first game since its Champions League elimination.
Dortmund scored three goals in the space of nine minutes to turn the game around just before halftime.
Fresh off scoring a hat trick against Barcelona on Tuesday, Serhou Guirassy leveled the score in the 41st off Pascal Gross’ cross following Ko Itakura’s opener for Moenchengladbach.
Felix Nmecha made it 2-1 off a cross from Yan Couto soon after. Daniel Svensson added a third in the fifth minute of first-half added time with a looping header on the rebound when a Guirassy shot was saved.
Kevin Stoger pulled one back for Moenchengladbach with a second-half penalty.
On-loan Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka played a prominent role in the buildup to all three of Dortmund’s goals after missing the Barcelona loss with injury.
Augsburg rescues a point
A last-second clearance from Cédric Zesiger rescued a point for Augsburg in a 0-0 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt that set back both teams’ efforts to qualify for European competition next season.
Frankfurt’s Ansgar Knauff seemed certain to score after dribbling past defender Zesiger and goalkeeper Finn Dahmen but Zesiger sprinted back and slid to block Knauff’s shot in front of an unguarded net.
Augsburg nearly took the win in the final minutes but Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp reacted quickly to push Phillip Tietz’s shot around the post.
Frankfurt stays third but has won just four of 12 Bundesliga games since forward Omar Marmoush left for Manchester City in January as teams behind have gained ground. Augsburg is 10th and in a midtable battle for the lower European places.