Borussia Dortmund kept the pressure on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga title race after Sebastien Haller and Donyell Malen starred in a 5-2 thrashing of Borussia Monchengladbach.
Bayern's 6-0 rout of Schalke sent the champions four points clear at the top prior to Saturday's kick-off at Signal Iduna Park, where Dortmund soon sliced that advantage to one again.
Edin Terzic's hosts surged into a 4-0 lead inside 32 minutes as Malen opened the scoring and twice teed up Haller, with Jude Bellingham also on target from the penalty spot.
Ramy Bensebaini pulled one back with a 75th-minute penalty and substitute Lars Stindl also struck for Gladbach, but Giovanni Reyna made sure it was an emphatic Dortmund victory with a stoppage-time strike.
Dortmund needed only five minutes to open the scoring as Malen headed home from point-blank range after Haller's deflected strike left Jan Olschowsky stranded.
A fine Gregor Kobel stop against Bensebaini denied Gladbach an immediate response, with that save proving vital as Dortmund struck a double blow soon after.
Bellingham squirmed an unconvincing penalty past Olschowsky after Florian Neuhaus had needlessly felled Haller, who added a third just two minutes later when flicking Malen's low cross into the bottom-left corner.
Another right-wing centre from Malen brought Haller's second as the Dortmund forward volleyed emphatically into the top-right corner.
A stretching Olschowsky thwarted a fizzing Bellingham drive after the interval.
Bensebaini reduced the deficit with a penalty after a Reyna foul, before Stindl whipped into the bottom-right corner for another consolation goal with five minutes left.
But the Gladbach fightback arrived too late and it was Reyna who had the last word when he tapped home a late Dortmund fifth from an Olschowsky mistake.
What does it mean? Dortmund remain in the hunt
Bayern will remain buoyed by the fact the last time the Bundesliga title race was this close after 31 matchdays, the Bavarian giants ousted Wolfsburg to league glory 14 years ago.
But Dortmund continue to hold their end of the deal in the battle for German top-flight glory, pushing Thomas Tuchel's side all the way after their 17th win in 18 competitive home games against Gladbach.
Home form has been key for Terzic's side this season, too, with no team in Europe's top five leagues scoring more goals on their own soil than Dortmund's 53 in 2023.
Marvellous Malen
Malen may have turned provider in a delightful display of selfless creativity against Gladbach but his rich vein of scoring form also continued.
The Dortmund forward has scored eight goals in his last eight league matches, while he has found the net in each of his last six home Bundesliga outings.
Grim Gladbach struggle on road again
A trip to Dortmund was always likely to prove a troublesome task, given Terzic's men had won a club-record 10 home league matches in a row before this visit.
The nature of Gladbach's crumbling came as no surprise as well, with Daniel Farke's side having now just won one of their last 16 top-flight away games this season (D6 L9).
What's next?
Dortmund visit Augsburg on Sunday May 21, which is also when Gladbach travel to Bayer Leverkusen.
David Moyes urges West Ham to finish the job and top Group A
David Moyes wants West Ham to finish the job off and top their Europa League group.
Tomas Soucek struck late on yet again as the Hammers secured their passage into the knock-out stages with a 1-0 win against Backa Topola in Serbia.
Now they need to avoid defeat to Freiburg at the London Stadium in a fortnight to ensure they top Group A and avoid a two-legged play-off in February.
“We’re thrilled at West Ham that we’re going to play in Europe after Christmas time for the third season,” Hammers boss Moyes said at his post-match press conference.
“Even playing Freiburg in the last game to win the group is hugely important. But I’d have taken this at the start of the season, if you’d said we’ll finish second I’d have taken that.
“Freiburg are a good side and we are going to have to play well.”
Czech midfielder Soucek, who struck with an 89th-minute volley to settle a poor match, has now scored in his last five matches for club and country.
Soucek also hit the late goal which secured a 2-1 win at Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday.
“Tomas is in great form, not only for us but for his country as well,” added Moyes.
“Let’s continue. His first season he got 10 goals for us and it’s seven now so he has a chance to reach that figure again.
“We made a few changes, some with illness, we were always going to try some other players tonight to give them game time.”
“We scored two late goals on Saturday to beat Burnley and as a manager sometimes it’s good to win game late.”
Aberdeen bounce back from two goals down to draw with HJK in Finland
C fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with HJK in a Europa Conference League game that was held up by a Helsinki snow storm.
The referee briefly stopped the game early in the second half because the travelling Dons fans were throwing snowballs, before a longer delay to allow several snow ploughs to clear the pitch.
Aberdeen were two goals down inside 33 minutes but a stunning strike from Angus MacDonald gave them a lifeline.
Duk levelled in the 56th minute before the 13-minute delay. There had been snow on the artificial pitch at the Bolt Arena from the start with an orange ball deployed and there was no let-up throughout amid temperatures of -5C.
Aberdeen finished the stronger team after the game restarted but could not convert several late chances.
Both teams were consigned to a bottom-two finish in Group G after match day four and the home side’s domestic season ended on October 21 when they clinched the Finnish title on goal difference.
Barry Robson made eight changes to the team that started Sunday’s draw with Rangers. MacDonald made his first start in almost three months following an injury-hit start to the season, while 20-year-old Jack Milne and summer signing Pape Habib Gueye both made their first starts for the club.
Milne showed promise in the opening stages with a good run and cross that led to shots from Duk and Gueye but neither could get through to test the home goalkeeper.
HJK soon got on top and Kelle Roos twice saved well with his feet before the home pressure paid off in the 16th minute. Slobodan Rubezic sold himself with an over-eager attempt to cut out a forward pass and Hassane Bande took advantage as he fired high into the net.
The home side clipped the post and the bar in the following moments and Aberdeen squandered two chances to put HJK under pressure from free-kicks following cynical challenges. The Dons would be subjected to several more throughout the game as Kosovan referee Genc Nuza adopted a lenient approach, although two players were booked from each side.
Aberdeen fell further behind when Santeri Hostikka skipped past three weak challenges and fired through a crowded goalmouth into the bottom corner.
The Dons got back into the game completely out of the blue in the 41st minute. MacDonald controlled a pass 30 yards out and fired the bouncing ball into the top corner.
Robson made two half-time changes as Ester Sokler replaced the ineffective Gueye and Jamie McGrath came on for Ryan Duncan.
The referee turned to Jonny Hayes to try to stop the Aberdeen fans throwing snowballs as HJK prepared to take a goal-kick early in the second half and Sokler was also unsettling the home defence with his harrying.
The substitute’s hard work led to the corner which resulted in Aberdeen’s 56th-minute equaliser. Richard Jensen flicked on Connor Barron’s delivery and Duk nodded home at the far post.
HJK substitute Jukka Raitala fired over from six yards in the 72nd minute just before Nuza took the players off.
Aberdeen re-emerged the stronger team. McGrath and Sokler each twice threatened and substitute Bojan Miovski saw an effort saved as Aberdeen broke with numbers.
The Dons were disappointed when the final whistle eventually sounded as they searched for a winner on a pitch which was again covered in snow with the lines barely visible.
Police injured during pre-match violence from Legia Warsaw fans at Aston Villa
Police have been injured after violence from Legia Warsaw fans ahead of their game at Aston Villa.
Missiles were thrown at police as the visiting fans were held in the coach park near Villa Park, before they were due to enter for the Europa Conference League game on Thursday.
Three police have been injured but the game will start on time, although no Legia fans have been allowed into the stadium ahead of kick-off.
A Birmingham Police statement on X, formerly Twitter, read: “We’re currently unable to allow away fans into Villa Park following disorder outside the stadium which has seen missiles thrown at officers.
“Three officers have already been injured & a significant policing operation continues. Please avoid Witton Lane where possible.”
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