Leverkusen extends unbeaten record to 48 games in 5-1 rout of Frankfurt without suspended Alonso

BERLIN (AP) — No Xabi, no problem.

Even without coach Xabi Alonso on the touchline, Bayer Leverkusen remained unbeaten Sunday with a 5-1 Bundesliga win over Eintracht Frankfurt that stretched its record run without defeat to 48 games in all competitions.

Alonso was suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards, but he watched from the stands as his Bundesliga champions showed no tiredness from Thursday’s 2-0 win at Roma in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals.

“It was another perspective,” Alonso said after seeing Czech forward Adam Hložek set up three goals. “We played very seriously. Of course the result is super, but the performance was very professional.”

Alonso rotated the team with just Edmond Tapsoba, Robert Andrich and Granit Xhaka keeping their places from Rome. Brazilian winger Arthur made his first start after recovering from a serious thigh injury.

Xhaka fired the visitors in front in the 12th minute with a brilliant strike from distance.

Hugo Ekitiké equalized, but that was as good as it got for Frankfurt with Omar Marmoush blazing over when he only had Leverkusen ’keeper Lukáš Hrádecký to beat.

Patrik Schick powered a header past Kevin Trapp before the break and Exequiel Palacios made it 3-1 with a penalty after it.

Substitute Jeremie Frimpong capped a brilliant team move with the fourth goal in the 77th, and Victor Boniface completed the scoring with another penalty in the 89th. It was Leverkusen's 82nd goal in the Bundesliga this season, a new club record.

Leverkusen hasn’t lost a game in any competition this season. Its 48-game unbeaten start is a record across Europe’s “big five” leagues.

UNION IN TROUBLE

Union Berlin, which played Real Madrid in the Champions League this season, edged closer to relegation with a 4-3 loss at home to fellow struggler Bochum.

Bochum defender Maximilian Wittek scored twice in a game for the first time, before Keven Schlotterbeck made it 3-0 in the 37th.

Union coach Nenad Bjelica reacted with three changes at the break, sending on Yorbe Vertessen, Brenden Aaronson and Chris Bedia.

Vertessen pulled one back in the 59th, three minutes before Bedia got another, only for Union's defense to leave Philipp Hofmann free to head the visitors’ fourth.

Aaronson did brilliantly to set up Benedict Hollerbach for Union’s third in the 74th, but the equalizer never came.

Union, which was only promoted to the Bundesliga in 2019, played in the Champions League this season after an unlikely fourth-place finish last year. Summer transfers did not have the desired effect and the team let long-time favorite coach Urs Fischer go in November.

Before kickoff Sunday, Union president Dirk Zingler denied reports that the club was set to dismiss Fischer's replacement, Bjelica, at the end of the season.

“Bjelica has our full support,” Zingler said. “The season we've played hasn't been a good one. That has nothing to do with Bjelica, but with the first half of the season. We didn't play well then. As a club, we didn't deliver.”

Bochum (33 points) moved three points ahead of Union, which was just a point ahead of Mainz (29) in the relegation playoff spot. Mainz drew at Heidenheim 1-1 in the late game.

Union visits second-from-bottom Cologne (24) next weekend in what will be a must-win game for the home team to avoid being relegated alongside last-place Darmstadt.

Two rounds remain.

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

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso smiles during an interview ahead of the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso is seen during an interview ahead of the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Frankfurt's Robin Koch, Leverkusen's Patrik Schick and Frankfurt's goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, from left, challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen's Robert Andrich gestures during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Left Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka who scored the first goal. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Frankfurt's goalkeeper Kevin Trapp reacts during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Left Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka who scored the first goal. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Frankfurt's Niels Nkounkou, left, and Leverkusen's Nathan Tella challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, right, celebrates his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka celebrates his side's opening goal during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Frankfurt's Niels Nkounkou, left, and Leverkusen's Nathan Tella challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, right, celebrates his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. Left Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka who scored the first goal. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen players celebrate their side's third goal during the German Bundesliga Soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in Frankfurt, Germany, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Philipp Hofmann, centre, of VfL Bochum celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's fourth goal of the game during the Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and VfL Bochum, at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Sunday May 5, 2024. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Philipp Hofmann of VfL Bochum celebrates after scoring their side's fourth goal of the game during the Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and VfL Bochum, at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Sunday May 5, 2024. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Nelly Korda shot a 7-under 65 Saturday and will take a two-stroke lead over Hannah Green into the final round of the Mizuho Americas Open in a bid to win for the sixth time in her last seven events on the LPGA Tour.

After seeing Rose Zhang snap her tour record-tying five tournament winning streak in the Cognizant Founders Cup last week, the top-ranked Korda has gotten better every round in posting a three-round 13-under 203 total at scenic Liberty National at Jersey City, New Jersey.

Green, whose two wins make her the only other multiple winner on tour this year, took advantage of the calm aand dry morning conditions and made a major move, shooting an event-record 63. It was one shot better than the best round last year, the first year of the event.

Korda and Green, who are ranked 1-2 in the Rolex player of the year standings, will be in the final pairing Sunday on the course that has the New York City skyline, the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty for a backdrop.

Neither player had a bogey Saturday, but they did combine for 16 birdies. Korda played in the afternoon when the weather got a little chillier and windier and there was a light rain for the final nine holes. She took the lead with a birdie on 15, just missed an eagle on the driveable 16th and then missed two birdie putts on the final two holes.

She walked off the course shaking her head.

“The first nine the wind was down, it was sunny, it was warm,” Korda said. “By the time we got near to the water on the back nine the wind started picking up and it started drizzling. It was the weather we kind of played in the first day, so made sure to stay warm and to take it a shot at a time.”

They won't have to worry about Zhang. The defending champion had to withdraw early in the first round with an illness. Overall, seven players withdrew with various illnesses in the first two days.

Rookie Gabriela Ruffels of Australia, who finished third last week, was tied for third at 10 under with Ayaka Furue of Japan, who birdied the final hole.

Jennifer Kupcho, who lost this event last year in a playoff with Zhang, was at 9 under along with Sophia Popov of Germany and Pajaree Anannarukarn of the Phillipines. Kupcho and Popov had 67s, one more than Anannarukarn.

There was a large group at 8 under, including first-round leader So Mi Lee, the South Korean alternate who got into the event an hour before her tee time.

Third-round leader Atthaya Thitikul, who recently returned from a thumb injury, struggled and had a 74 and was in a group at 7 under, six shots behind Korda.

Green hit 17 greens despite missing a couple of fairways.

“Actually hit it really close, so it was really nice to actually not have to stress about trying to make pars today,” the 27-year old said. “But it did feel like autopilot for a little bit there, which is very nice. So, yeah, now I put myself hopefully in contention for Sunday.”

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

Nelly Korda lines up a shot on the 14th green during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open golf tournament, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Gabriela Ruffels, of Australia, hits a shot on the first hole during the final round of the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament, Sunday, May 12, 2024, in Clifton, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Hannah Green, of Australia, hits off the ninth tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open golf tournament, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Nelly Korda looks after her shot off the 14th tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open golf tournament, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)