Grimaldo scores twice in Bundesliga as Leverkusen beats Mainz in 7-goal spectacle

By Canadian Press on October 18, 2025.

AP Sports Writer (AP) — Álex Grimaldo scored twice and was booked for complaining as Bayer Leverkusen almost squandered a two-goal lead before beating Mainz 4-3 in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Grimaldo converted a penalty and Christian Kofane got another goal before Lee Jae-sung pulled one back for Mainz. Grimaldo scored again before the break but was booked in the 69th when he clearly didn’t agree with referee Florian Exner’s decision to award Mainz a penalty when Phillipp Mwene fell under minimal contact from Arthur.

The decision survived a VAR review despite little evidence of a foul, and Nadiem Amiri scored against his former side from the spot.

Martin Terrier thought he sealed Leverkusen’s win late, then Amiri sent Armindo Sieb through to score in the 90th to ensure a nervy finish for the visitors.

It was Leverkusen’s third straight win under new coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was back at his former team. Hjulmand had an unhappy spell in charge of Mainz in 2014-15.

Leipzig held on beat promoted Hamburger SV 2-1 after the home fans honored Hamburg’s Danish forward Yussuf Poulsen with a huge tifo in tribute to his 12 years at the club in his first game back. Leipzig was still in the third division when Poulsen joined from Lyngby in 2013.

Heidenheim drew with Werder Bremen 2-2, Augsburg drew in Cologne 1-1, and Christian Eriksen made his first start for Wolfsburg in a 3-0 loss at home to Stuttgart. It was Wolfsburg’s fourth straight Bundesliga defeat and a sixth league game in a row without a win.

League leader Bayern Munich was hosting Borussia Dortmund in ‘der Klassiker’ later. They were the only unbeaten teams remaining ahead of their clash.

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

Ciarán Fahey, The Associated Press