Leverkusen keep title race alive thanks to late win at Heidenheim

Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen remained six points behind leaders Bayern Munich thanks to a 1-0 stoppage-time win at lowly Heidenheim on Saturday.

Bayern had extended their lead to nine points after a 3-1 win against Augsburg on Friday evening.

And after a shock elimination from the German Cup in a 2-1 defeat to third-division Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday, Leverkusen were on the verge of another setback, but Emiliano Buendia's goal in the first minute of stoppage time secured them the crucial three points.

Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, moved up to eighth and are two points away from the Conference League spot after thrashing Freiburg 4-1.

RB Leipzig defeated 10-man Hoffenheim 3-1 to give coach Zsolt Löw a win in his Bundesliga debut. Löw started his interim job at Leipzig with a 3-1 loss to VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Ermedin Demirovic scored a hat-trick in Stuttgart's 4-0 thrashing of Bochum, while Mainz fought back for a draw against bottom side Holstein Kiel.

The point put Mainz two points behind third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who were defeated 2-0 at Werder Bremen in the late Saturday match.

Sunday's schedule includes St Pauli Hamburg v Borussia Mönchengladbach and Union Berlin v VfL Wolfsburg.

Leverkusen strike late again

On their way to the Bundesliga and German Cup titles last season, Leverkusen became experts in scoring decisive goals in the final minutes.

And coach Xabi Alonso will be relieved that his team can still fight for important results late in the games.

"After Tuesday (against Bielefeld), we wanted to celebrate something and we can celebrate the three points today. In our situation, it was important for us to win," Alonso said.

Leverkusen only had two shots on target, while Heidenheim got close to a goal when Benedikt Gimber smashed the ball off the crossbar and then saw it bounce away off the post in the 26th minute.

But in the end, the title holders prevailed after Buendia picked up the ball on the edge of the box and smashed it into the net.

"Heidenheim did well for long stretches. In the end, we had a bit of luck - and put the ball in the net," Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah said.

Dortmund with confidence boost ahead of Barça clash

Dortmund's big win at Freiburg will give them an extra boost of confidence ahead of the Champions League quarter-finals first leg game at Barcelona on Wednesday.

"The next important game is in Barcelona, a completely different challenge, because we will face one of the strongest teams in Europe," Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said.

Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund a deserved lead in the 34th from a tight angle after Pascal Gross had his effort from the edge of the box blocked by the defence.

Carney Chukwuemeka's added a second in the 52nd after his shot took a deflection into the goal and Julian Brandt wasn't selfish as he assisted Serhou Guirassy for a third in the 68th.

Jamie Gittens put the game to bed in the 78th before Maximilian Eggestein scored at least one for the hosts 10 minutes later.

Löw makes Bundesliga debut with win

Löw replaced coach Marco Rose, but started the job with a German Cup exit mid-week. He had better luck, however, in his first league game.

Hoffenheim went ahead in the 11th thanks to an ugly mistake from Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, who accidentally gave the ball away to Bazoumana Toure from a clearance.

The Hoffenheim youngster then found Tom Bischof, who smashed the ball past Gulacsi from distance.

But Leipzig hit back and were level in the 24th - also thanks to a mistake from the goalkeeper. This time it was Oliver Baumann who initially parried Benjamin Sesko's header, but let the ball spill into the goal.

Hoffenheim were down to 10 men just four minutes later as Leo Ostigard was sent off for fouling Lois Openda and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Leipzig seized the opportunity and took the lead in the 43rd through Ridle Baku, and Yussuf Poulsen completed the win in the 84th.

"We came straight out of an intense game against Stuttgart, while Hoffenheim were able to be more rested. The early goal didn't help chase any of the tiredness out of our legs. That's why I'm even more proud of the team," Löw said.