Musiala’s strike extends Bayern’s lead, Dortmund suffers another defeat

Bayern Munich extended their Bundesliga lead to six points after a remarkable long-range strike from Jamal Musiala sealed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over St Pauli.

The win came in a challenging away game on Saturday, while Borussia Dortmund continued their slide with another loss.

Recently promoted, St Pauli put up a resilient defense against the league leaders, determined to avoid a repeat of the 8-1 defeat they suffered the last time Bayern visited.

However, Musiala’s brilliance made the difference. The young forward won possession centrally and surged forward, unleashing a shot from just under 30 meters that rattled off the crossbar and into the net.

The 21-year-old Musiala has been in outstanding form, netting five goals in his last four matches since returning from a hip injury.

His decisive goal on Saturday followed a similar single-goal performance in Bayern’s midweek Champions League victory over Benfica.

With Musiala firing on all cylinders, Bayern’s lead in the Bundesliga looks increasingly secure as they push toward another title.

Musiala told Sky Germany he “didn’t know” he could shoot from such a distance, adding: “I’ve practiced a bit in training to shoot from distance… but not that far!

“That it went in today made me happy… It was my first goal from outside the box this season and I’m always trying to work on different things to improve myself.”

Bayern are now six clear atop the table on 26 points, but RB Leipzig can cut the gap to three with a win in their home match against Borussia Moenchengladbach later on Saturday.

Injury-hit Dortmund suffered yet another setback, losing 3-1 at Mainz after Emre Can was sent off in the 27th minute for a studs-up tackle on Lee Jae-sung.

Normally a midfielder, Dortmund’s injury crisis had pushed Can into central defence.

His replacement after the red card, another midfielder in Felix Nmecha, was at fault nine minutes later when an unmarked Lee headed in.

Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy won and converted a penalty to level things up but Jonathan Burkardt put Mainz back in front just before half-time, slamming in a Danny da Costa pass from close range.

Paul Nebel added a third early in the second period to put Mainz in the driver’s seat for their first home win of the season.

Champions League finalists last season, Dortmund are struggling this year, particularly away from home, having lost their past six games in all competitions.

Bayer Leverkusen’s title defence continued to stutter with a 1-1 draw at last-placed Bochum, who equalised in the final minute.

Leverkusen were ahead from the 18th minute onwards after Florian Wirtz slid a ball across the turf and into the path of Patrik Schick, who blasted home.

The visitors seemed on track for victory until Bochum’s Koji Miyoshi popped up to grab a loose ball after a mistake from Jonathan Tah and slide it in at the near post.

Leverkusen captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky called the late goal “a bitter slap in the face”.

“We’ve drawn for the third time against a team on the bottom of the table,” he added.

Leverkusen are now nine points behind Bayern and have dropped 13 points this campaign, more than they did across all 34 games last season.

The draw was just Bochum’s second point this season after 10 games in their first match under veteran coach Dieter Hecking.

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen won 2-1 at home against Holstein Kiel thanks to an 89th-minute goal from Oliver Burke after Phil Harres’ second-half strike cancelled out Jens Stage’s open for the hosts just after the half-hour.