Second-placed RB Leipzig ended 10-man Hoffenheim’s unbeaten run this season with a 2-1 comeback win in yesterday’s key Bundesliga clash to stay just three points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Hoffenheim were the last undefeated team left in Europe’s top leagues but Marcel Sabitzer’s 77th-minute winner dealt the visitors their first loss of the season after striker Sandro Wagner’s dismissal.
“I was impressed by the way we didn’t lose our way after going behind,” said RB coach Ralph Hasenhuettl. “That was a big point against a very good opponent. We were very clever, very flexible, in the way we acted.”
Hoffenheim took the lead at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena when midfielder Sebastian Rudy, who will join Bayern next season, started a copybook counter-attack from his own box. Hoffenheim moved the ball quickly until ex-Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric squared in the Leipzig box to present midfielder Nadiem Amiri with a tap-in on 18 minutes. Leipzig kept their composure and Guinea playmaker Naby Keita forced his way into the Hoffenheim area to lay the ball off as Timo Werner netted his 11th goal this season.
Hoffenheim were reduced to 10 men for the last 30 minutes when Wagner was shown a red card for a clumsy tackle on Leipzig’s Stefan Ilsanker. Leipzig grabbed the winner when Keita stepped on the gas and passed to Austria international Sabitzer who fired home from 22 metres out.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern stayed top with a 2-1 win at battling Werder Bremen, who put up a fierce second-half fight. Bayern took the lead when Franck Ribery’s pass found Arjen Robben and the Dutch winger curled his shot inside the post from outside the area on 31 minutes.
The lead was doubled when David Alaba hit a sweet free-kick which curled inside the post right on the stroke of half-time. But Bremen, who had last scored against Bayern in April 2014, dug deep and put up a spirited display at Weser Stadion.
Germany striker Max Kruse pulled a goal back on 53 minutes and ex-Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry caused lots of problems down the right flank, but Bayern ultimately held on.  Cologne battered bottom side Darmstadt 6-1 at home as Japan striker Yuya Osako scored twice in the rout.
Ex-Germany midfielder Torsten Frings, Darmstadt’s new coach, cut a frustrated figure as Cologne raced into a 3-0 half-time lead through an own goal by Aytac Sulu, Osako and Anthony Modeste. Darmstadt’s Sidney Sam netted a second-half penalty before Osako, ex-Dortmund midfielder Milos Jojic and Latvia striker Artjoms Rudnevs netted for Cologne. The result leaves Darmstadt seven points from safety while Cologne stay seventh. Ingolstadt remained 16th but boosted their survival chances with a 3-1 win over Hamburg, who drop to second from bottom.
Pascal Gross, Markus Suttner and Almog Cohen, who netted a penalty, scored for Ingolstadt before Hamburg’s Japanese captain Gotoku Sakai pulled a goal back. Wolfsburg slid towards the relegation zone with a 2-1 home defeat against Augsburg, whose Dominik Kohr scored the winner after Halil Altintop equalised following Germany striker Mario Gomez’s early goal for the Wolves.
Eintracht Frankfurt went third on Friday with a 1-0 win at Schalke with their burly striker Alexander Meier, the league’s top scorer in 2014-15, netting a first-half winner.
Results
Wolfsburg 1 (Gomez 4) Augsburg 2 (Altintop 25, Kohr 69); Ingolstadt 3 (Gross 14, Suttner 22, Cohen 47-pen) Hamburg 1 (Sakai 63); Werder Bremen 1 (Kruse 53) Bayern Munich 2 (Robben 31, Alaba 45+1); Darmstadt 1 (Sam 66-pen) Cologne 6 (Sulu 32-og, Osako 37, 72, Modeste 42, Jojic 85, Rudnevs 89); RB Leipzig 2 (Werner 38, Sabitzer 77) Hoffenheim 1 (Amiri 18)
Played Friday: Schalke 04 0 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (Meier 33)
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