De Ligt belts Bayern to victory but Moukoko keeps up Dortmund’s chase

An unstoppable long-range strike from Matthijs de Ligt handed Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory over Freiburg, keeping them two points clear at the top of the table with seven games remaining.

The Bavarians, who face Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final first leg next week, had been beaten at home by Freiburg 2-1 in the German Cup last eight on Tuesday. Desperate to make amends, Bayern had possession and a couple of good chances in the first half. But it was Freiburg who came closer to scoring with Ritsu Doan catching Alphonso Davies napping on the stroke of half-time but sending his effort on to the post.

De Ligt then took matters into his own hands after the interval, breaking the deadlock and beating keeper Mark Flekken with a screamer into the top corner. They should have scored again through Leroy Sané on the hour but he chipped over the bar with only Flekken to beat.

Borussia Dortmund remain second, two pints adrift, after they struggled to a 2-1 home win over third-placed Union Berlin thanks to the teenage substitute Youssoufa Moukoko’s second-half winner.

The hosts, beaten 4-2 by Bayern last week, took a deserved lead through Donyell Malen in the 28th minute with the forward tapping in after a quick move. Dortmund looked sharper than in last week’s loss and Wednesday’s German Cup last-eight defeat by RB Leipzig. However they again paid the price for some sloppy defending, with Kevin Behrens finding space to play a one-two with Sheraldo Becker and equalise just past the hour mark.

Dortmund dug deep and bagged the winner 11 minutes from time when Moukoko pounced on a Union mistake to round Frederik Ronnow and find the net. The 18-year-old had earlier become the youngest player in Bundesliga history to