Late Leverkusen win 4-3 at Stuttgart, Frankfurt win after big delay

Bayer Leverkusen showed late fight yet again to turn a 3-1 loss into a 4-3 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday as they cut Bayern Munich's lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points.

Patrik Schick's winning header in injury time was reminiscent of so many late goals in their championship-winning season last term as they took advantage of Bayern's 1-1 draw at Union Berlin on Saturday.

Xabi Alonso's side only lost one game last season in the Europa League final.

They were on the brink of a fourth straight defeat in all competitions - and two straight Bundesliga losses for the first time since February 2023 - before Angelo Stiller's own goal went in on 88 minutes and Schick stooped to score from Jeremie Frimpong's cross.

Stuttgart forward Ermedin Demirović had netted the opener on 15 minutes amid poor Leverkusen defending after Jamie Leweling's shot had been saved.

Nick Woltemade, who had a skilful part in the opener, then coolly slotted home for 2-0 early in the second half.

Frimpong pulled one back with a low drive but an unlucky own goal from Granit Xhaka, when the ball bounced in off him after Lukáš Hrádecký had saved Demirović's effort, seemed to have doomed Leverkusen.

Piero Hincapié then fired in for 3-2 on 68 minutes before the late drama, which kept Stuttgart 10th when a win would have put them seventh.

Just eight matchdays remain and a title race which looked to be over has been reignited after Bayern also lost last weekend at home to Bochum.

Leverkusen have rediscovered their verve having lost away and at home to Bayern in the Champions League last 16 and also last weekend at home to Werder Bremen.

The Werkself, who hope injured playmaker Florian Wirtz can soon return, host Bochum after the international break and Bayern welcome St Pauli.

Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah told DAZN: "The air hasn't gone out of us. We didn't play well in the first half. We conceded the second early in the second half but we never game up.

"You need such wins to show that the spirit is still there."

Frankfurt fan furore

Eintracht Frankfurt earlier withstood a 50-minute delay caused by their fans to consolidate fourth spot with a 3-1 win at third-bottom Bochum.

Kick-off was put back almost an hour after away fans - for a third game in Bochum in two years - refused to remove a banner which covered an emergency exit.

They did so only after sporting director Markus Krösche angrily went over to speak with them. The fans opted to remove all their banners and some Frankfurt supporters even appeared to leave the stadium.

"I'm glad the game got started," Frankfurt defender Robin Koch told DAZN. "We managed to keep our focus."

Once the match got under way, Frankfurt's Rasmus Kristensen opened the scoring on 27 minutes after his initial effort was saved by Timo Horn. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya soon netted his first Bundesliga goal for the visitors from Hugo Ekitiké's pass.

Bochum had started the game the stronger and cut the deficit to 2-1 on 73 minutes after Gerrit Holtmann's cross drifted in and VAR decided there was no offside.

Dani de Wit almost levelled late on but for a superb save from Frankfurt stand-in keeper Kauã Santos. Michy Batshuayi then sealed matters in stoppage time.

Frankfurt are three points ahead of RB Leipzig and Freiburg in the race for the final Champions League berth with eight games remaining.

Bochum are five points adrift in the relegation play-off spot and now just a point above second-bottom Heidenheim, who leapfrogged Holstein Kiel thanks to a 3-1 home win in the drop-zone clash.

Marvin Pieringer's superb header, Budu Zivzivadze's rasping left-foot strike and Sirlord Conteh's late goal ended a run of nine league games without a win. Kiel, who had made it 2-1 through Phil Harres, are two adrift at the bottom.