EURO ROUND-UP

Three first-half goals helped BAYERN MUNICH beat third-placed WOLFSBURG 3-2 to stretch their Bundesliga lead to seven points. The visitors were 2-0 up after 24 minutes through teenager Jamal Musiala (below) and Eric Maxim Choupo-moting. Wolfsburg rallied and Wout Weghorst pulled a goal back in the 35th minute, only for Musiala to head in his second goal soon after.

Maximilian Philipp’s halfvolley strike reduced the deficit again in the second period, but Bayern, who exited the Champions League in midweek, held on, but not before goalkeeper Manuel Neuer crucially denied Weghorst an equaliser with a smart save in the 66th minute. The Wolfsburg striker had been flagged offside, but replays suggested that decision would have been overturned by VAR had his finish beaten Neuer.

Musiala (17), who earlier this season opted to play international football for Germany over England and Nigeria, had an effort cleared off the line in the second half as he chased a hat-trick.

After second-placed RB LEIPZIG fought out a goalless draw with HOFFENHEIM on Friday evening, this victory could prove decisive for Bayern in the title race with just five games remaining. In Serie A, bottom club CROTONE went down 2-1 at home to UDINESE. Rodrigo De Paul put the visitors in front just before the break, but the hosts levelled through Simy Nwankwo’s penalty conversion on 68 minutes. A second for De Paul proved to be the winner, but he blotted his copybook by being sent on just before full-time. Nwankwo has now scored 17 league goals for Crotone this season. He equals Yakubu Aiyegbeni’s record of the most goals scored by an Nigerian in a single season of a top-five European league this century.