BERLIN - Second-placed RB Leipzig made Bayern Munich wait to be crowned Bundesliga champions as Emil Forsberg netted a second-half penalty in a 2-0 home win on Sunday against 10-man Stuttgart.
Defeat for Leipzig would have confirmed Bayern as German champions for the ninth straight season despite Hansi Flick's side losing 2-1 at Mainz on Saturday.
"It was an important win for us," said Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann.
"A defeat would have put too much pressure on the fight for the Champions League and second place.
"It's not 100 percent safe, but it looks very good."
Leipzig hold a seven-point cushion ahead of third-placed Wolfsburg with three games left.
Leipzig made sure the champagne went back on ice in Munich for at least another fortnight after Stuttgart played most of the game a man down.
With just 12 minutes gone, 19-year-old defender Naouirou Ahamada was shown a red card, upgraded from yellow after a VAR review, for a rough tackle on Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara.
Haidara headed the hosts into the lead just 20 seconds after half-time when the Malian midfielder smashed home a Dani Olmo cross.
Having been brought down in the area, Forsberg picked himself up and converted a penalty as Leipzig trimmed Bayern's lead at the top to seven points with three games left.
The Bundesliga takes a break next weekend, forcing Bayern to wait for another chance to clinch the title when they host Borussia Moenchengladbach on May 8.
Gladbach moved into seventh, four points from the European places, after a 5-0 thrashing of Arminia Bielefeld, having raced into a three-goal lead in the opening 18 minutes.
Breel Embolo opened the scoring on six minutes after an attack down the right, then Marcus Thuram fired in with a quarter of an hour gone.
A handball by Bielefeld winger Christian Gebauer saw Gladbach awarded a penalty which Algeria defender Ramy Bensebaini converted.
Embolo grabbed his second after a superb exchange of passes with Swiss team-mate Denis Zakaria, rolling the ball past goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
Alassane Plea scored the hosts' fifth when he drilled in off the post from 20 yards out six minutes from time.
The result leaves Bielefeld 15th in the table, just one point above the relegation play-off spot, occupied by Cologne. - AFP. April 26, 2021
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