Bundesliga title beckons for Bayern after holding defending champ Leverkusen scoreless

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich might have won the Bundesliga with a draw.

Bayer Leverkusen did everything but score as Bayern held on for a 0-0 draw that kept it eight points clear at the top of the German league on Saturday.

Bayern was pegged back for the whole game but Leverkusen — with center forwards Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface watching from the substitutes’ bench — failed to score for the second consecutive game.

“We're satisfied with the result. Let's just say that,” Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said after a busy game.

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso sent Schick on only in the second minute of stoppage time, after star player Florian Wirtz went agonizingly close to winning the match when he shot just wide of the left post after Neuer saved Amine Adli’s effort.

Bayern failed to manage a single shot on target for the whole game. It's only the second time on record, according to statistician Opta, which said the other time was against Wolfsburg in May 2008.

Leverkusen, the defending champion, twice hit the crossbar in the first half.

It was the fifth time Alonso, a former Bayern player, faced his former team as a coach in the Bundesliga and the fifth time he remained unbeaten. His team also knocked Bayern out of the German Cup earlier this season.

“It could be better,” Alonso said, "but there are still 12 games in the Bundesliga.”

Georgios Masouras scored twice in two minutes for bottom club Bochum to upset Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in their derby.

Masouras stunned the visitor with his first goal for Bochum since his winter switch from Olympiakos, then capitalized almost straight away on a huge error from Dortmund defender Niklas Süle to grab his second in the first half.

Süle, who made his first start since December after recovering from an ankle injury, sent a back pass straight into Masouras’ path for the Greek forward to fire the ball past Gregor Kobel in the Dortmund goal.

Bochum’s win lifted the team off the bottom till Sunday at least, pending fellow struggler Holstein Kiel’s visit to Eintracht Frankfurt.

It was the second defeat in as many Bundesliga games for Dortmund under new coach Niko Kovać. Dortmund stayed 11th and risked falling further behind in its quest for Champions League qualification.

Bochum had a host of injuries with four important players including first-choice goalkeeper all out.

Stuttgart failed to capitalize on Leipzig’s draw in Augsburg the night before as it lost at home to Wolfsburg 2-1 despite substitute Nick Woltemade’s wonderful opener in the 72nd minute.

Leipzig remained fourth, while Stuttgart dropped two points off the last place for Champions League qualification.

Borussia Mönchengladbach won at Union Berlin 2-1, and Freiburg won at St. Pauli 1-0 thanks to a late own goal from Philipp Treu.

AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth contributed from Leverkusen.

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

Bayern's Harry Kane, centre, in action during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Bayern's Jamal Musiala, bottom, challenges for the ball with Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Bayern's Michael Olise, left, controls the ball ahead Leverkusen's Exequiel Palacios during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Referee Samuel Barrott shows a yellow card to Bayern's Aleksandar Pavlovic during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Referee Samuel Barrott shows a yellow card to Bayern's Aleksandar Pavlovic during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Bayern's Harry Kane receives medical attention during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Bayern's Harry Kane reacts injured during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern Munich at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Dortmund's goalkeeper Gregor Kobel during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund in Bochum, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck points during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund in Bochum, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Bochum's head coach Dieter Hecking gestures during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund in Bochum, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Dortmund's head coach Niko Kovac arrives for the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund in Bochum, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Bochum's Georgios Masouras celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund in Bochum, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Bochum's Tim Oermann, left, and Dortmund's Jamie Gittens, right, challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund in Bochum, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

Bochum's Georgios Masouras celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund in Bochum, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)