Bayer Leverkusen went 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and continued their unbeaten run with a 2-0 win over struggling neighbours Köln, who went down to 10 men in the first half of a hotly-contested derby on Sunday.
Köln had Jan Thielmann sent off after 14 minutes for stepping on the back of Granit Xhaka’s ankle and Leverkusen took the lead through Jeremie Frimpong in the 37th minute. The home side were still very much in the game until Álex Grimaldo netted his ninth league goal of the season in the 73rd minute.
Leverkusen, who have now gone 34 games without defeat in all competitions this season, are on 64 points. They extended their lead over second placed Bayern Munich after the champions drew 2-2 at Freiburg on Friday. Köln remain 16th on 17 points.
In Serie A, the Italy forward Domenico Berardi exited Sassuolo’s 1-0 defeat at Verona in tears with a suspected torn Achilles tendon, raising the prospect that he might miss Euro 2024.
Returning from a separate injury in January to his left knee, which required surgery, Berardi went down in the 58th minute after controlling an errant kick from the Verona goalkeeper, Lorenzo Montipò, and immediately grasped his right ankle. He was eventually helped off the pitch by teammates.
The Sassuolo coach, Davide Ballardini, said that Berardi had a suspected torn Achilles. Berardi provided two assists during Italy’s run to the European Championship three years ago and was expected to be on the team at this year’s tournament in Germany.
In Ligue 1, fifth-placed Nice lost 2-1 at Toulouse after conceding two second-half goals. The visitors took the lead in the eighth minute through Terem Moffi, who scored from close range. Toulouse levelled in the 65th minute when Thijs Dallinga stretched to score from Warren Kamanzi’s low cross and four minutes later Yann Gboho controlled Dallinga’s cross before rifling a shot to the roof of the net.
Brest, who are second, beat lowly visitors Le Havre 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal by midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou to narrow the gap to the leaders Paris Saint-Germain to nine points.
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To be updated later