BERLIN (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso’s last home game in charge ended in a 4-2 drubbing by Borussia Dortmund that boosted the visitors’ chances of Champions League qualification on Sunday.
Karim Adeyemi scored one goal and set up another for clinical Dortmund to stay one point behind fourth-placed Freiburg with one round of the Bundesliga remaining.
Third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt failed to take its chance to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition with a game to spare in a 2-2 draw at home with St. Pauli.
“It's very annoying,” Frankfurt CEO Markus Krösche said.
The draw was enough for St. Pauli to all but guarantee survival in the top division after its promotion last season. The Hamburg-based club stayed three points ahead of third-from-bottom Heidenheim with a vastly superior goal difference.
But for Frankfurt it left open the possibility that it can still be overhauled by Freiburg and Dortmund on the final day. Frankfurt is two points ahead of Freiburg, and three ahead of Dortmund with a goal difference that is just three better than Dortmund.
Dortmund next plays relegated Holstein Kiel, while Freiburg plays Frankfurt in the final round.
The top four teams qualify for the Champions League.
St. Pauli's players and staff celebrated wildly at the final whistle. They can look forward to a Bundesliga derby with crosstown rival Hamburger SV next season after its return Saturday after seven years away.
Alonso's farewell
Alonso, who confirmed on Friday he’ll be leaving Leverkusen at the end of the season, was honored for his impact at the club before kickoff, when defender Jonathan Tah also received tributes before he leaves.
“This club will stay forever in my heart," Alonso said in the post-game press conference. “The result doesn't matter, it wasn't the most important thing.”
Alonso’s team dominated from the start with a host of chances only to be thwarted by Gregor Kobel in the Dortmund goal.
Florian Wirtz set up Jeremie Frimpong to break the deadlock in the 31st, when the Dutch wing back ran to Alonso, leading to a team celebration around the departing coach.
But Julian Brandt replied two minutes later with Dortmund’s first shot after Adeyemi pulled the ball back.
Kobel pulled off great saves to deny Nathan Tella and then Wirtz, before Pascal Groß set up Julian Ryerson to score with Dortmund’s second shot before the break.
Brandt sent Adeyemi through to make it 3-1 in the 73rd and Serhou Guirassy made sure of the win four minutes later.
Wirtz set up Jonas Hofmann's consolation in stoppage time.
Stuttgart breaks home curse
Stuttgart defeated 10-man Augsburg 4-0 in a game with only pride at stake, but it came at a cost with first-half injuries to Germany midfielder Angelo Stiller, young defender Finn Jeltsch, and Yannik Keitel, who had gone on for Stiller in the 16th.
Augsburg’s Samuel Essende was sent off for the foul on Stiller.
Stuttgart ended its record of six straight Bundesliga defeats at home as it prepares for a German Cup final against Arminia Bielefeld on May 24.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Ciarán Fahey, The Associated Press
