Bundesliga: Robert Lewandowski breaks goalscoring record; Erling Haaland brace helps Dortmund secure second place

Berlin: Erling Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund sealed second place in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win at third-place Leipzig on Saturday. Players on all teams in the penultimate round wore a badge on their sleeves promoting the German government’s new coronavirus tracing app, which was also advertised on corner flags. On his first professional start, 17-year-old American Gio Reyna set up Haaland on a counterattack in the 30th minute. It was Rayna’s first assist in the league. The 19-year-old Haaland also hit the crossbar. The Norwegian had to wait until injury time before he grabbed his second — and 13th goal in 14 league appearances — set up this time by Julian Brandt. [caption id=“attachment_8507011” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Erling Haaland and Julian Brandt celebrate after linking up to score Borussia Dortmund’s second goal against RB Leipzig. AP[/caption] It means Dortmund are assured of second place with one game of the season remaining. Despite defeat, Leipzig are virtually assured of Champions League football next season. Leipzig are one point ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach, who took advantage of Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-0 loss at Hertha Berlin to move fourth with a 3-1 win at already relegated Paderborn. Leverkusen needed a win to stay ahead of Gladbach in fourth, the last place for Champions League qualification, but failed to make the most of a good start and couldn’t recover after Matheus Cunha fired Hertha into a 22nd-minute lead. Dodi Lukebakio, who combined with Krzysztof Piatek to set up Cunha, scored Hertha’s second goal early in the second half, when Piatek gave him an easy finish. It left Leverkusen two points behind Gladbach in fifth, three points behind Leipzig, but with a vastly inferior goal difference to the energy drink manufacturer-backed club. Leverkusen now need a favor from Hertha, who visist Gladbach in the last round, while they host Mainz. Lewandowski breaks another record Robert Lewandowski struck twice as champions Bayern Munich eased past Freiburg 3-1 to secure a record 15th win in a row and the Pole became the first foreign player to score 33 goals in a Bundesliga season. The Bavarians, who sealed their eighth successive title on Tuesday with victory at Werder Bremen, went in front after 15 minutes through Joshua Kimmich’s well-placed shot from a Lewandowski assist. [caption id=“attachment_8506991” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring Bayern Munich’s second goal. AP[/caption] The striker then nodded in on the rebound in the 24th minute after Freiburg keeper Alexander Schwolow had blocked a Leon Goretzka shot before flicking in the third from a Lucas Hernandez cutback before halftime. Freiburg had earlier cut the deficit through Lucas Hoeler. Relegation battle Mainz, Cologne and Augsburg all ensured top-tier football next season, as Bremen’s troubles deepened. Mainz players lifted their right arms in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement after Robin Quaison’s opening goal in a 3-1 win over 17th-place Bremen. The team above Bremen, Fortuna Duesseldorf, earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw at home to Augsburg. Rouwen Hennings thought he’d given Duesseldorf the early lead with a powerful shot, but video review ruled it out for handball in the build-up. Augsburg promptly scored through Florian Niederlechner, but Hennings hit back with a goal from outside the box to level it up. Fortuna threw players forward in stoppage time in search of a win that would have removed the threat of automatic relegation, but Augsburg held firm for the draw. Four-time champions Bremen are two points behind Fortuna and will need a win over Cologne next week to have any chance of avoiding dropping out of the top division for the first time since 1981. Either Duesseldorf or Bremen will face a playoff against the third-place team from the second division. Cologne drew with Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1. Other games Union Berlin, still celebrating after clinching their survival on Wednesday, slipped to a 4-0 loss at Hoffenheim, who booked their place in the Europa League next season. Schalke’s club-record winless run stretched to 14 games after a 4-1 defeat at Wolfsburg, who also booked a Europa League qualification place. With inputs from AP and Reuters.