Germany forward Deniz Undav extends Bundesliga scoring streak to 6 games for Stuttgart

BERLIN (AP) — Deniz Undav celebrated his return to the Germany squad by scoring for the sixth consecutive Bundesliga game in Stuttgart’s 5-2 rout of Augsburg on Sunday.

This time Undav scored twice to take his tally to 18 for the season and deliver Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann a timely reminder – if he needs one – of his prowess before World Cup warmup games against Switzerland and Ghana.

The win lifted Stuttgart to third with seven rounds remaining, well placed to finish among the top four for Champions League qualification.

Undav opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Nikolas Nartey set up Tiago Tomás in the 29th, two minutes before scoring himself to put Stuttgart 3-0 ahead.

Fabian Rieder pulled one back for Augsburg after the break, but Undav replied a minute later to reassert the visitors’ dominance.

Anton Kade scored in the 71st for Augsburg and Undav set up Ermedin Demirović to complete the scoring with a tap-in against his former club in the 83rd.

Stuttgart moved three points clear of Leipzig and Hoffenheim, with Bayer Leverkusen four points further back in sixth.

Eintracht Frankfurt dropped World Cup hero Mario Götze and lost 2-1 at local rival Mainz in their derby earlier Sunday.

Paul Nebel scored both goals for Mainz, grabbing the winner in the 89th minute to set off wild celebrations and deal Frankfurt its second defeat under new coach Albert Riera.

Nebel opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Nathaniel Brown responded for Frankfurt in the 20th, then Nebel fired home the rebound after Frankfurt ’keeper Michael Zetterer saved Nelson Weiper’s header.

Götze’s omission prompted questions for Riera before kickoff, when the Spanish coach asked which of his players should make way for the former Germany star to be in his squad after Arthur Theate, Can Uzun, Younes Ebnoutalib and Ansgar Knauff all recovered from injuries.

“Name me one player,” Riera challenged his pre-game interviewer on broadcaster DAZN. “If I could take 21 players, he’d be included,” he said. “Mario also had some physical problems during the week and wasn’t always at 100%. And I had to make a decision about who the best players for the bench are.”

Götze, who scored Germany’s World Cup-winning goal in 2014, has featured sparingly for Frankfurt this season, making 18 league appearances over 27 rounds and completing only one full Bundesliga game. He didn’t appear at all in Frankfurt’s last two games and seems to have lost some standing under Riera compared to the previous coach, Dino Toppmöller, who was fired in January.

Mainz’s win lifted it six points above St. Pauli in the relegation zone.

Igor Matanović returned to St. Pauli and scored twice for Freiburg to win 2-1 and leave his hometown club stuck in the relegation playoff spot.

Danel Sinani opened the scoring but St. Pauli was unable to add any more, and Matanović equalized in the 65th before tucking home a rebound for the winner in the 78th. The Croatia forward refused to celebrate out of respect for his former club.

“I was able to play here for 13 years. I was here as a small kid, I was in the stands, then a ball boy. I really enjoyed being able to play here today,” Matanović said. “When I came out on the field before everything started, the fans gave me a really warm reception and I appreciate that so much. Yeah, but today I have the Freiburg crest on my chest and I have to give everything for the club and that's what I did today.”

St. Pauli players wore jerseys in support of “Kein Bock auf Nazis,” an antifascist group fighting intolerance and right wing ideologies. The slogan loosely means “couldn’t be bothered with Nazis.”

St. Pauli's gesture came as the league displayed the slogan “ Together! Stop Hate. Be a Team ” across all games as part of an anti-discrimination campaign.

Also Sunday, Cologne fired Lukas Kwasniok as coach after a seven-game winless run, and Borussia Dortmund parted with sporting director Sebastian Kehl after they reached what the club called an “amicable” decision.

Bayern Munich leads the Bundesliga by nine points and is closing in on its 13th German championship in 14 years.

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

St. Pauli's Danel Sinani, front center, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC St. Pauli and SC Freiburg in Hamburg, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

Freiburg's Igor Matanovic celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC St. Pauli and SC Freiburg in Hamburg, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, center, celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart in Augsburg, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Harry Langer/dpa via AP)

Frankfurt's head coach Albert Riera gestures during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt in Mainz, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Marc Schueler/dpa via AP)

Mainz' Paul Nebel, right, scores the opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt in Mainz, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Marc Schueler/dpa via AP)

Mainz' Paul Nebel, left, and Frankfurt's Jean-Matteo Bahoya, right, challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt in Mainz, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Marc Schueler/dpa via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America" during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Donald Trump with sufficient “negative firepower," according to a long-awaited post-election autopsy released on Thursday by the Democratic National Committee.

The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.

On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."

Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him on the ticket or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.

“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”

A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation.

“Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote on social media.

The postelection report, which was authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera, calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”

“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.

The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”

Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.

The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”

“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”

The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”

Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.

Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.

Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.

The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”

“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”

The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.

“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.

President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC headquarters, Jan. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)