Stuttgart sweeps aside Leverkusen as snow hampers the Bundesliga

Audio By Carbonatix

Stuttgart surged into contention for the Bundesliga's Champions League places after Jamie Leweling scored twice in a 4-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

On a day when snow cut the Bundesliga schedule from six games to four, Stuttgart made light of below-freezing temperatures.

Stuttgart led 4-0 by halftime against a Leverkusen team missing injured striker Patrik Schick and key players at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Both of Leweling's goals came as Stuttgart turned over the ball and surged through the Leverkusen half, either side of a Maximilian Mittelstädt penalty awarded when Leverkusen's Jeanuel Belocian brought down Josha Vagnoman. Deniz Undav made it 4-0 just before halftime.

An Alex Grimaldo penalty midway through the second half was the only consolation for Leverkusen, which has lost three of its last five Bundesliga games.

Following reports in Britain linking Leweling with Bournemouth as a potential replacement for Antoine Semenyo, Stuttgart sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth told broadcaster Sky, “We don't plan to sell Jamie Leweling. We're happy that we have him.”

Leverkusen and Stuttgart are fourth, both 12 points off league leader Bayern Munich, which plays Wolfsburg on Sunday.

Union Berlin fans spent the week clearing snow around their stadium so their game against Mainz could go ahead. They were rewarded with a late recovery to salvage a 2-2 draw.

Union's game was in doubt, prompting fans to gather with shovels to clear snow from access routes at the stadium on Thursday. Those efforts and lower-than-expected snowfall on Friday allowed the game to proceed, though the damp field soon churned up.

On his return to a club he led into the Champions League before his 2023 departure, Mainz coach Urs Fischer nearly left with a win.

Nadiem Amiri's volley gave Mainz the lead and ex-Union player Benedict Hollerbach refused to celebrate after scoring Mainz's second goal. Union responded with goals from Jeong Woo-yeong in the 77th and a close-range finish from Marin Ljubicic in the 86th to take a point.

A poor tackle cost Hamburger SV dearly in a 2-1 loss at Freiburg which finished amid steady snowfall.

Hamburg had just taken the lead when defender Daniel Edfadli's clumsy challenge gave away a penalty and earned him a second yellow card. Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo converted the spot kick before Igor Matanovic scored the winning goal.

Heidenheim drew with Cologne 2-2. Marvin Pieringer's audacious overhead kick gave Heidenheim the lead early before Cologne twice leveled the score.

St. Pauli’s game with Leipzig and Werder Bremen's against Hoffenheim were postponed because of snow and ice.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer