Leverkusen ease past Freiburg to bounce back from PSG debacle

Bayer Leverkusen eased past visitors Freiburg 2-0 with goals from Ernest Poku and Edmond Tapsoba on Sunday to stretch their winning run in the Bundesliga only five days after their midweek Champions League debacle.

The 2024 German champions bounced back from Tuesday's 7-2 home loss to Paris St Germain in the Champions League, to earn their fourth straight league win and confirm their upward trend under coach Kasper Hjulmand, who took over following the sacking of Erik ten Hag after just two matchdays.

They moved up to fourth place in the standings on 17 points, level with third-placed Borussia Dortmund and two points behind RB Leipzig in second.

Bayern Munich lead the title race on a maximum 24 points following Saturday's 3-0 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Dutch youth international Poku fired the hosts into the lead with a superbly curled low shot in the 22nd minute before Tapsoba doubled it seven minutes after the restart, heading in from an Alex Grimaldo cross.

With Leverkusen, who travel to Bayern next week, in complete control, Poku should have added a third goal three minutes later but he was beaten in a one-on-one by Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu before Arthur sent the rebound wide.

Freiburg, who dropped to 11th place, were left with 10 men when Philipp Lienhart was dismissed with a second booking in the 74th minute, but despite overwhelming possession, Leverkusen could not add to their tally.