Zirkzee scores again for Bayern; Leipzig win

Schalke salvage 2-2 draw at home with Freiburg

BERLIN, Dec 21: (AP): Defending champion Bayern Munich and Bundesliga leader Leipzig both left it late to secure wins on Saturday with 18-year-old Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee again proving the hero for Bayern.

Substitute Zirkzee scored in the 86th minute for Bayern to beat Wolfsburg 2-0. Serge Gnabry added another in the 89th while the visitors were still recovering.

Zirkzee also scored on his debut against Freiburg on Wednesday in Bayern’s 3-1 win.

Leipzig needed late goals to overcome Augsburg 3-1 at home, opening up a two- point lead over secondplace Borussia Mönchengladbach who drew 0-0 with Hertha Berlin.

Also Saturday, Schalke salvaged a 2-2 draw at home with Freiburg; Cologne beat Werder Bremen 1-0; and a groin injury sustained in Leipzig’s German Cup final loss to Bayern Munich on May 25.

Florian Niederlechner then stunned home fans with the opening goal in the eighth minute. There was a lengthy delay before the goal was confirmed with a VAR check.

Leipzig kept pushing for a response and missed a number of chances before the equalizer came through Konrad Laimer in the 68th, again after a long VAR check.

Patrik Schick, who scored the equalizer for a 3-3 draw at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, put Leipzig ahead off a corner in the 80th and Yussuf Poulsen made sure in the 89th.

Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski, (right), and Wolfsburg’s Marcel Tisserand battle for the ball during the Germany Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Dec 21. (AP)