Underdogs strike as Bayern rivals Leverkusen and Dortmund drop points in Bundesliga

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich won without playing on Saturday as Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund dropped points to modest opponents.

Dortmund slumped at Union Berlin to a 2-1 defeat without injured forward Karim Adeyemi, who starred in the team’s 7-1 rout of Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Defending champion Leverkusen squandered an early two-goal lead over promoted Holstein Kiel and drew 2-2. It was only Kiel’s second point in its debut top-flight season.

Leverkusen played in a special black jersey with red trim to commemorate the club’s 120th anniversary, and for Xabi Alonso it was also a special occasion – the Spanish coach took over exactly two years before.

Leverkusen fans didn’t have to wait long to celebrate after Victor Boniface opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Jonas Hofmann made it 2-0 four minutes after that. Leverkusen looked set for a rout.

But the home team failed to make more of its dominance — Boniface had another goal ruled out for offside — and Kiel secured a lifeline before the break when Max Geschwil scored after a corner. Fiete Arp scored an unlikely equalizer from the penalty spot in the 69th.

“I wouldn't say arrogance, but I'd say there's a bit a complacency. We need to stay concentrated, because we want to be a better team,” Alonso said. “We could win a few games, and not win a few games, up and down, but that's not our goal. Today we didn't have the best competitive mindset.”

Union illustrated early on against Dortmund why it’s the club with one of the most ineffective forward lines in the league. The Köpenick-based team had only four goals from its opening five games.

Former Union player Nico Schlotterbeck offered assistance by conceding a penalty with a foul on the lively Benedict Hollerbach, and Kevin Vogt duly scored the opener from the spot in the 25th.

The home team kept pushing and got its due reward before the break when Yorbe Vertessen let fly through a host of players for 2-0.

Early in the second half, masked Union ultras displayed an array of Dortmund scarves and banners presumably confiscated from their rivals before the game. They hung the tattered flags on the railings behind one of the goals and raised their fists, goading the Dortmund fans far away on the other side.

Former Union player Julien Ryerson responded on the field in the 62nd by firing inside the far post for 2-1, set up by Julian Brandt after a period of pressure from the visitors – but it wasn’t enough.

Also, Freiburg won at Werder Bremen 1-0, and Wolfsburg enjoyed a 3-1 win in Wolfsburg.

St. Pauli was playing Mainz later.

League leader Bayern visits second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka reacts after his team failed to win the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Holstein Kiel at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz reacts disappointed after not winning the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Holstein Kiel at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's Piero Hincapie reacts beside Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso after not winning the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Holstein Kiel at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso reacts during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Holstein Kiel at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Dortmund's Sebastien Haller talks to a referee during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Dortmund's Waldemar Anton, left, and Union's Benedict Hollerbach fight for the ball during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Union's Benedict Hollerbach, left, and Dortmund's Pascal Gross jump for the ball during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Berlin players celebrate after a goal during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Union's Kevin Vogt stops the ball in front of Dortmund's Julien Duranville during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Dortmund's Sebastien Haller, left, and Union's Christopher Trimmel jump for the ball during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Dortmund's Maximilian Beier outruns Union's Diogo Leite during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said Wednesday he is “optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump’s second term and expressed some excitement about potential regulatory cutbacks in the coming years.

“I’m actually very optimistic this time around,” Bezos said on stage during a wide-ranging interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York. “He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help do that, I’m going to help him."

“We do have too many regulations in this country,” Bezos added.

The comments follow Bezos' October decision to prohibit The Washington Post, which he owns, from endorsing a presidential candidate, a move that led to tens of thousands of people canceling their subscriptions and protests from journalists with a deep history at the newspaper.

At the time, Bezos wrote in an op-ed in the newspaper saying editorial endorsements create a perception of bias at a time when many Americans don’t believe the media, and do nothing to tip the scales of an election.

On Wednesday, he said he would try to talk Trump "out of the idea” that the press is the enemy.

“You’ve probably grown in the last eight years,” he said to journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. “He has, too. This is not the case. The press is not the enemy.”

Trump had railed against Bezos and his companies, including Amazon and The Washington Post, during his first term. In 2019, Amazon argued in a court case that Trump’s bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract. The Biden administration later pursued a contract with both Amazon and Microsoft.

In another part of the interview, Bezos said he doesn't expect Elon Musk, who has been tasked with cutting regulations in the upcoming Trump term, to use his power to hurt his business competitors. Bezos owns Blue Origin, a rival to Musk's SpaceX.

FILE - Then Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the the Amazon re:MARS convention on June 6, 2019, in Las Vegas. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 that he is “optimistic” about President-elect Donald Trump’s second term and expressed some excitement about potential regulatory cutbacks in the coming years. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)