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Bayern Restores 6-Point Bundesliga Lead but Far from Impressive in Win over St. Pauli

Bayern Munich's German forward #07 Serge Gnabry (L) and Bayern Munich's German forward #10 Leroy Sané react during the German first division Bundesliga football match between FC Bayern Munich and St. Pauli in Munich, southern Germany on March 29, 2025. (AFP)
Bayern Munich's German forward #07 Serge Gnabry (L) and Bayern Munich's German forward #10 Leroy Sané react during the German first division Bundesliga football match between FC Bayern Munich and St. Pauli in Munich, southern Germany on March 29, 2025. (AFP)
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Bayern Restores 6-Point Bundesliga Lead but Far from Impressive in Win over St. Pauli

Bayern Munich's German forward #07 Serge Gnabry (L) and Bayern Munich's German forward #10 Leroy Sané react during the German first division Bundesliga football match between FC Bayern Munich and St. Pauli in Munich, southern Germany on March 29, 2025. (AFP)
Bayern Munich's German forward #07 Serge Gnabry (L) and Bayern Munich's German forward #10 Leroy Sané react during the German first division Bundesliga football match between FC Bayern Munich and St. Pauli in Munich, southern Germany on March 29, 2025. (AFP)

Leroy Sané scored twice and Harry Kane added to his Bundesliga-best tally as Bayern Munich restored its six-point lead by beating St. Pauli 3-2 on Saturday.

The visitor made a courageous start and went close to scoring when captain Jackson Irvine’s header was deflected onto the crossbar. Then Bayern pounced on a mistake with Michael Olise crossing for Kane’s league-leading 22nd goal in the 17th minute.

Elias Saad equalized in the 27th when Manolis Saliakas was given enough space on the right to cross for the Tunisia forward.

Sané restored Bayern’s lead in the 53rd with a low shot across goal after being sent through by Olise, then scored again to seal the win.

Lars Ritzka pulled one back for St. Pauli in stoppage time after Bayern defender Hiroki Ito was unable to play the final minutes. It’s the latest injury blow to Bayern’s defense with Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano out with knee injuries.

The victory ended Bayern's two-game winless streak in the Bundesliga, but coach Vincent Kompany will face questions about his team's vulnerabilities in defense — particularly with the shortages he faces there.

Bayern faces Inter Milan in the Champions League quarterfinals on April 8.

Alassane Plea’s header after the break was enough for Borussia Mönchengladbach to beat Leipzig 1-0 and move above the visiting team to fifth, two points behind Eintracht Frankfurt.

Frankfurt could consolidate its position among the top four for Champions League qualification later Saturday with a win at home over Stuttgart.

Also, Heidenheim boosted its survival hopes with a 1-0 win at Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim drew with Augsburg 1-1, and Werder Bremen won at bottom side Holstein Kiel 3-0.

Defending champion Bayer Leverkusen temporarily cut Bayern’s lead to three points with a 3-1 win over Bochum on Friday. Seven rounds remain after this weekend.

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Flawless Oscar, Max Flounders: Bahrain Grand Prix Talking Points 

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
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Flawless Oscar, Max Flounders: Bahrain Grand Prix Talking Points 

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)

Oscar Piastri produced a command performance on Sunday to deliver McLaren's first win at the Bahrain Grand Prix since the nocturnal desert dust-up joined the Formula One calendar in 2004.

The Australian crossed the line in Sakhir over 15 seconds clear of Mercedes' George Russell to move second behind teammate Lando Norris in the drivers' standings.

Norris completed the podium to take a three-point lead into next Sunday's race in Jeddah.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the fourth round of the season:

Oscar Piastri shone brightest under the floodlights in Bahrain to enhance his standing as a potential world champion.

Cool, calm and collected, nothing seems to faze the 24-year-old Australian.

As McLaren team principal Andrea Stella succinctly remarked: "There's no noise in Oscar's head".

Brushing off the misfortune of a late run off in the season-opener in Melbourne that dropped him back from second to ninth he regrouped to win in China, take third in Japan, and win from pole in Bahrain.

"I'm very proud of the team, proud of myself, and excited for next week," he said after his fourth career win.

Piastri's persona is poles apart from that of the man on the other side of the McLaren garage, Lando Norris.

The Briton wears his heart on his sleeve, is intensely self-critical, and left Bahrain searching for answers to regain his and his car's mojo.

"I'm not confident, I'm not comfortable, I know what I can achieve, it's not gone, I've not lost it, but things aren't clicking. I've got to look at why but that's proving not to be easy."

Red Bull picked up their first double points of the season in Sakhir, with Max Verstappen sixth and his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda ninth.

But that was small consolation for a team in trouble and desperately searching for answers to solve issues with their problematic 2025 car.

Team principal Christian Horner was frank about the situation when he met the media in the team's hospitality tent after the race.

"Look, it was a bad weekend.

"It's a 24-race championship, we're eight points behind in the drivers' championship, and we know we need to make progress very quickly."

With Verstappen slipping to third in the drivers' standings his quest for a fifth successive title, a feat only achieved by Michael Schumacher, looks in danger.

"Everything went wrong, poor start, wheel spin, same problems in qualification, hard tires didn't work, I was last after the second pit stop," remarked Verstappen.

"Considering everything to finish sixth was alright.

"It's not what we want, but it's where we are at.

"It's tough, got to hang on to improve the situation -- hopefully we can improve soon," added the downbeat Dutchman.

Arguably the driver of the day was George Russell.

His Mercedes was doing everything it could in the closing stages to sabotage his race.

He found himself having to multi-task at high speed trying to sort out a litany of electronic issues -- at one stage he pressed the team radio button only to engage DRS (drag reduction system).

All that as he was fending off Norris.

After surviving a steward's inquiry over the DRS incident which carried with it the threat of a five-second penalty Russell's runner-up spot maintained his best ever start to a season with his third podium finish.

"I'm mega happy, the last 10 laps were exceptionally difficult," said the man who has seamlessly taken over the role of team leader at the Silver Arrows after Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari.

Hamilton's replacement Kimi Antonelli was going well until undone by the late safety car to finish just outside the points in a race which will serve as a valuable learning exercise for the brilliant young Italian rookie.