AMSTERDAM – Alfredo Morales and Ingolstadt finally suffered their first Bundesliga away defeat on Sunday, dropping a 1-0 decision away to southern rivals Stuttgart.
The US midfielder worked 72 minutes, with him causing plenty of dangerous moments in the last half of them. Just after the break, Morales flashed a restart flick across the goalmouth that somehow found no Ingolstadt takers.
On the day, Morales piled up seven positive passes in or into the final third and three pass interceptions. Neverthless, Ingolstadt slipped to eighth place.
One league below in the 2. Bundesliga, Caleb Stanko watched on from the home dugout as Freiburg moved to the summit with a 5-2 rout of visiting Greuther Furth.
Turning focus to Ukraine, Eugene Starikov scored the Chornomorets Odessa's second goal as the hosts moved clear of the lone relegation spot with a 5-2 cruise past Metallurg Zaporizhzhya.
Just four minutes in, the forward turned up at the back post to double the Sailors' quick lead. It was his second goal of the young season, and he easily could have added a third.
After an excellent rush by the away netminder prevented him from firing late in the first half, Starikov stung his hands from 14 yards out just past intermission. The victory was the team's first in 11 games this season.
Over in Norway's Tippeligaen, Ethan Horvath won for the third straight time at home, backstopping Molde FK to a 3-1 victory over Erik Hurtado's endangered Mjondalen.
The US Olympic pool 'keeper rang up four saves and three cross captures, with his biggest highlight a breakaway save on Vancouver loan striker Hurtado midway through the second half. While the outgoing champs held firm in seventh, Mjondalen lost for the fourth time in a row to remain in the drop zone.
Zarek Valentin and Bodo/Glimt bravely posted a 1-1 draw at Rosenborg, preventing the league leaders from clinching the crown. The ninth place visitors, who led until the 79th minute, remain winless in three.
Meanwhile, he Europa League hopes of A.J. Soares and Viking took a hit in a 3-1 loss at Tromso. Soares picked up his first yellow card in 16 starts this season shortly after the hour mark. Viking now stand five points out of the last Europa League slot with three games remaining on the schedule.
In neighboring Sweden, Helsingborgs IF goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski has consecutive Allsvenskan wins under his belt for the first time after a 4-1 humbling of home side Hammarby.
The netminder endured a flurry of activity early and then cruelly denied runaway Hammarby man Jakob Orlov shortly before the break. Pyzdrowski also had a run of dynamic stops late in the contest, bringing his save total to 11 on the night. The points nudged Helsingborg up to seventh place.
Finally, in Bulgaria's top division, Bjorn Maars Johnsen scored for the fourth time in the last six league games as Litex Lovech pulled level on points with the top thanks to a 2-0 triumph at Montana.
The lanky striker busted in alone and made no mistake to seal the win with seven minutes left. The goal lifted him to third place on the scoring chart, two off the league lead.
