German Bundesliga

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The Leverkusen cheering section(Bild: AP/Associated Press)

Bayer Leverkusen remain hot on the heels of FC Bayern in Germany's Bundesliga! The defending champions celebrated a 3:1 home win over Hoffenheim on Sunday and are now six points behind the leaders. Coach Christian Ilzer's club, who substituted Alexander Prass in the 84th minute, remain four points clear of the relegation places in 15th place.

Victor Boniface (15th), who will not be moving to Saudi Arabia after all, Jeremie Frimpong (19th) and Patrik Schick (51st) scored for Bayer with Gift Orban (63rd) conceding a goal. For the first time in the Bundesliga, there was a referee announcement to the spectators in this match.

Referee Robin Braun had initially awarded a penalty in the 22nd minute following a foul by Hoffenheim's David Jurasek on Nathan Tella. After consulting the video referee, Braun reversed his decision as Tella had previously been offside.

First stadium announcement after VAR intervention
"Penalty has been reviewed. According to the pictures, there was an offside position. That's why the decision is no penalty, offside," explained Braun over the stadium loudspeakers.

As a test run until the end of the season, announcements will be made by the referees in selected stadiums when the video referee intervenes. The German Football League (DFL) launched the project to create more transparency for spectators.