Dortmund lose to Leverkusen
BERLIN, Jan 20, (AP): Teenager Florian Wirtz scored for Bayer Leverkusen in a 2-1 win which dealt Borussia Dortmund its latest Bundesliga setback on Tuesday.
Dortmund, which was held 1-1 at home by lowly Mainz, slumped to their second defeat in six games under new coach Edin Terzić.
It was a lackluster display from Dortmund, which only threatened briefly in the second half and was fortunate not to concede more with Moussa Diaby missing several good chances after he opened the scoring.
The unhurried Nadiem Amiri played a cross-field pass that Diaby controlled with his first touch and swept past Dortmund ’keeper Roman Bürki with his next in the 14th minute.
Diaby continued to cause problems after the break before Dortmund’s first real chance in the 54th. Marco Reus almost set up Erling Haaland but the 17-year-old Wirtz managed to clear.
Thomas Meunier missed another good chance for the visitors before Julian Brandt equalized against his former team in the 67th when Raphaël Guerreiro laid the ball off for him to fire inside the far corner.
Brandt almost scored again a minute later, but Edmond Tapsoba cleared off the line.
Dortmund paid the price in the 80th when Wirtz scored after Meunier lost the ball. It fell to Patrik Schick and he combined with Diaby, who crossed for the unmarked Wirtz to unleash an unstoppable shot past Bürki for his fourth Bundesliga goal.
SOCCER
Goals from Sebastian Rudy and two from Andrej Kramaric gave Hoffenheim a 3-0 win at Hertha Berlin that will increase the pressure on coach Bruno Labbadia. Hertha had hopes this season of challenging for European qualification but it has dropped to 14th in the 18-team division with only one win in its last seven games.
Wolfsburg moved fifth with a 2-0 win at Mainz, and Borussia Mönchengladbach rode their luck to beat Werder Bremen 1-0. Nico Elvedi’s header was enough for Gladbach.
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Spezia advanced to the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup with a 4-2 win against nine-man Roma after extra time.
Former Roma winger Daniele Verde and Riccardo Saponara scored in extra time for Spezia, which next play Napoli.
The match changed two minutes into extra time as Roma defender Gianluca Mancini and goalkeeper Pau López were sent off within 30 seconds of each other, in separate incidents.
Mancini was dismissed following a second yellow card while López received a straight red for clattering into Spezia forward Roberto Piccoli.
Spezia had been 2-0 up after 15 minutes, following Andrey Galabinov’s penalty and Saponara’s first goal of the night.