Patrik Schick scores for Leverkusen to send his coach Xabi Alonso a message before Bayern games

BERLIN (AP) — Patrik Schick showed Bayer Leverkusen what it was missing against Bayern Munich last week by scoring in a 2-0 win at Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Schick, who was omitted by Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso in the top-of-the-table clash with Bayern, got Leverkusen off the mark in the ninth minute in Kiel after Amine Adli did well against two Kiel defenders to set him up. It was Schick's 15th league goal of the season.

“It's a good total, but I want more,” said Schick, who has scored more non-penalty goals than any other player in the league.

Alonso’s decision to only send Schick on late in stoppage time against Bayern raised eyebrows as his team had dominated without scoring for the previous 90 minutes and more with both Schick and fellow striker Victor Boniface watching from the substitutes’ bench.

That 0-0 draw kept Bayern eight points clear with 12 rounds left to play.

Florian Wirtz played Adli in to make it 2-0 before the break in Kiel, where Leverkusen’s win narrowed the gap to five points before Bayern hosts Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

Leverkusen faces Bayern again over two games in the last 16 of the Champions League on March 5 and 11. They will be the fourth and fifth meetings between the teams this season.

Adli, with a goal and an assist, made his first start since three months out with a fracture to his left fibula.

“The injury was very painful to go through,” the Morocco forward said. “But every day I work, every day I wake up for this moment. And today I could not have imagined it better, starting again with the team and scoring.”

Serhou Guirassy scored four goals as Borussia Dortmund routed Union Berlin 6-0 to give new coach Niko Kovač his first Bundesliga win in charge after starting with two defeats.

Former Union player Julian Ryerson's shot from distance was deflected in by Union defender Diogo Leite in the 25th.

Then the Guirassy show started. The Guinea star headed his first in the 40th, wrapped the win from a narrow angle in the 75th, grabbed his third five minutes after that, and took his league tally to 13 goals with the fourth in the 83rd.

Maximilian Beier completed the rout in the 89th as Dortmund climbed to 10th before the rest of the round.

Alexis Claude-Maurice scored a hat trick for Augsburg to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 away.

The French midfielder scored all his goals after Gladbach goalkeeper Jonas Omlin was sent off for taking down Fredrik Jensen, who was put through on goal by a botched backpass from Nico Elvedi. It was a clear goal chance, and referee Florian Exner had no option but to show Omlin the red card in the 29th.

Also, Mainz defeated St. Pauli 2-0 at home, and Bochum drew at Wolfsburg 1-1 to climb out of a direct relegation place.

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Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice, second right, celebrates with teammates after scoring, with Moenchengladbach's Joe Scally in front, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and FC Augsburg in Moenchengladbach, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice, top, celebrates with teammates after scoring his second goal of the match during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and FC Augsburg in Moenchengladbach, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

oalscorer Jae-Sung Lee, 2nd from right of Mainz celebrates a goal with teammates, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and FC St. Pauli in Mainz, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

St. Pauli's Noah Weißhaupt, left and Mainz's Phillipp Mwene challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and FC St. Pauli in Mainz, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Wolfsburg's Bence Dardai, left, and Bochum's Tom Krauss in action during the Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and VfL Bochum at Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Swen Pförtner/dpa via AP)

Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice celebrates after scoring during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and FC Augsburg in Moenchengladbach, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice, left, and Gladbach's Ko Itakura fight for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and FC Augsburg in Moenchengladbach, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Kiel's Nicolai Remberg, left, and Leverkusen's Amine Adli battle for the ball during the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer Leverkusen at Holstein-Stadion, Kiel, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Kiel's Phil Harres, top, and Leverkusen's Granit Xhaka in action during the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer Leverkusen at Holstein-Stadion, Kiel, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Leverkusen's Amine Adli, left, heads the ball over Kiel's David Zac during the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer Leverkusen at Holstein-Stadion, Kiel, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Kiel's David Zac and Leverkusen's Amine Adli, right, in action during the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer Leverkusen at Holstein-Stadion, Kiel, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Kiel goalkeeper Timon Weiner, right, reaches for the ball past Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah during the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer Leverkusen at Holstein-Stadion, Kiel, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, left, and Kiel's Magnus Knudsen, right, challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Kiel, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Leverkusen's Amine Adli, right, celebrates scoring with teammate Florian Wirtz during the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer Leverkusen at Holstein-Stadion, Kiel, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Leverkusen's Patrik Schick and Kiel's Marco Komenda, right, in action during the Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer Leverkusen at Holstein-Stadion, Kiel, Germany, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/dpa via AP)

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso before the German Bundesliga soccer match between Holstein Kiel and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Kiel, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Gregor Fischer/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)