Bundesliga wrap: Leverkusen keep pressure on Dortmund

Bayer Leverkusen reduced Borussia Dortmund’s lead on top of the Bundesliga to nine points after a 1-0 away win over Mainz on Sunday.

Renato Augusto’s goal eight minutes from the end was enough to hand all three points to Leverkusen, and cut Dortmund’s lead to single figures with eight games still to play.

Dortmund suffered a 1-0 loss at Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Mainz dropped to fifth with the loss and are now in a dogfight with Nuremberg for the last remaining Europa League berth.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Stuttgart hauled themselves out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over fellow battlers St Pauli at the Millerntor-Stadion.

St Pauli took the lead after 19 minutes thanks to a goal from midfielder Fabian Bolle but Stuttgart hit back five minutes later through Zdravko Kuzmanovic.

Sven Schipplock scored the winner with two minutes remaining to lift Stuttgart from 17th place to 13th on goal difference, while St Pauli slipped into the drop zone.