BERLIN: Deniz Undav set up two goals for Germany teammate Jamie Leweling and grabbed one of his own as Stuttgart cruised to a 4-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga on Saturday.
Another Germany international, Maximilian Mittelstaedt, converted a first-half penalty for the visitors while Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo pulled one back from the spot in the second half.
The victory took the German Cup holders level on 29 points with third-placed RB Leipzig, but in fifth spot, one behind Leverkusen, on goal difference.
Stuttgart arrived in Leverkusen having won just one of the past 31 games in all competitions between the sides dating back to 2010, but were brilliant and led 4-0 at half-time.
Leweling poked home from close range after seven minutes. Undav set up Leweling to score again with 16 minutes gone, but the former Brighton man was offside.
Mittelstaedt converted a penalty just before the half-hour mark. Undav once again found Leweling to score just before half-time and added another two minutes into stoppage time as Stuttgart grabbed control of the match.
Playing his first league match since November, Grimaldo gave the scoreline a bit of respectability with a 66th-minute penalty after Malik Tillman was felled in the box.
Freiburg came from a goal down to beat Hamburg 2-1 at home, with the visitors playing most of the second half with 10 men.
Tottenham loanee Luka Vuskovic put Hamburg in front just after half-time but Freiburg scored twice through Vincenzo Grifo and Igor Matanovic after Daniel Elfadli picked up a second yellow on the 51st-minute mark.
The victory took Freiburg four points outside the European placings.
In the German capital, last-placed Mainz played out a 2-2 draw against Union Berlin, with visiting coach Urs Fischer managing his first match against his former side.
Germany midfielder Nadiem Amiri and former Union forward Benedict Hollerbach took the visitors to a two-goal lead but Jeong Woo-yeong and Danilho Doekhi scored inside the final 15 minutes to level things up.
Mainz are unbeaten in five games in all competitions since Fischer was appointed in early December, including a memorable 2-2 draw at league leaders Bayern Munich.
During an impressive five-and-a-half-year stint at Union, Fischer lifted the club from the second division to a maiden promotion and a season in the Champions League.
Elsewhere, Heidenheim picked up a valuable point in a 2-2 home draw with Cologne.
Two of Saturday’s matches — Leipzig’s visit to St. Pauli and Werder Bremen’s home clash with Hoffenheim — were postponed due to heavy snowfall across northern Germany.
On Sunday, Bayern can extend their lead atop the table over Borussia Dortmund to 11 points with a win at home against Wolfsburg.
Dortmund were held 3-3 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.
Undav calls shots as Stuttgart thump Leverkusen
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Undav calls shots as Stuttgart thump Leverkusen
- Maximilian Mittelstaedt, converted a first-half penalty for the visitors while Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo pulled one back
- The victory took the German Cup holders level on 29 points with third-placed RB Leipzig
Jones leads after blemish-free 65 at Address Marassi
- Englishman holds 1-shot advantage as 3 players share second at Egypt Golf Series
AL-ALAMEIN, Egypt: England’s Ben Jones carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead at the Egypt Golf Series Address Marassi Golf Resort 2, the third event of the MENA Golf Tour’s four-tournament Egypt swing.
Jones holds a one-shot advantage over three players at six under — Italy’s Giovanni Manzoni, Scotland’s Michael Stewart and Spain’s Juan Salama — as players returned to the resort course for the second consecutive week.
Jones said: “It was a bit fortunate the first day by getting the right side of the wind and that’s when you have to take advantage of the course.”
“I hit it really solid all day, stayed out of trouble and had no dropped shots, so I’m really happy with that. It’s probably my best round of the year so far and hopefully I can keep that going.
“I nearly holed one on eight and for a second I thought it was in, and then on the final putt of the day I nearly grabbed another birdie. It hit the back of the hole but just didn’t drop. I maybe hit it a little firm because I misjudged the wind down there.”
Scotland’s Stewart said: “I played really nicely today. I felt like I had good control of my ball in the wind, which was really important out there. The preparation over the last few days definitely helped, and last week’s final round was very breezy as well, so that experience carried over.
“I would not say it is getting easier, because it is not, but you do start putting yourself in better positions because you understand the course and the misses a bit more.
“Overall, it just felt like one of those days where I played really solid golf, gave myself plenty of chances, and managed to take a few of them.”
Salama enjoyed a tale of two halves having teed off on the 10th, with six birdies on his back nine, the course’s front nine, transforming his round.
“Six under is obviously very pleasing, but it really felt like two completely different nines out there,” said the Spaniard.
“The front nine was quite tough and I started a little cold with the putter. On the back nine everything clicked, the putter got hot and I was able to make six birdies, which made a huge difference.
“Finishing the round by holing that putt on my final hole was a great feeling and gives me a lot of confidence going into tomorrow.”
Italy’s Ludovico Addabbo, second in the MENA Golf Tour Rankings and alone in fifth at five under, went blemish-free on the card, which included an eagle on the fourth hole and three birdies on the back nine.
Rankings leader Chris Wood, who won last week’s Marassi 1 event in a dramatic playoff, is among a large group at one-over par following an opening 73 as he looks for a repeat win at the venue.
The Egypt Golf Series has $100,000 in prize money and Official World Golf Ranking points on offer. Following this week’s event, the Tour concludes its Egypt Swing at Madinaty Golf Club in Cairo from Feb. 3 to 5.
