DORTMUND: RB Leipzig lost more ground on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich with a 4-3 defeat at lowly Hoffenheim on Saturday and were overtaken into second by Eintracht Frankfurt.

Equal on points with Bayern just three matchdays ago, Leipzig have since lost two and drawn one to sit eight points behind the league leaders.

Hoffenheim came from a goal down to equalise three times and took the lead with four minutes left in a wild debut for manager Christian Ilzer.

Hoffenheim’s Adam Hlozek collected a brace while Tom Bischof scored a clever free-kick and Jacob Bruun Larsen was responsible for the winner.

Leipzig’s efforts came through Willi Orban, Antonio Nusa and an own goal from Stanley N’Soki.

“We’re incredibly disappointed. We went ahead three times and lost in the end, that really hurts,” Leipzig’s Christoph Baumgartner told Sky.

Meanwhile, Mario Goetze scored in his 100th Frankfurt game as his side beat Werder Bremen 1-0 to move two points ahead of Leipzig in second.

Goetze’s 45th-minute goal, blasted in from near the penalty spot, was set up by a delicate pass from French striker Hugo Ekitike.

A happy Frankfurt captain Kevin Trapp said Leipzig’s loss gave them good momentum”.

At the Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund beat Freiburg 4-0 thanks to goals from Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens, while the visitors finished with nine men.

Under fire and sitting outside the European spots coming into the match, Dortmund’s one saving grace this league campaign has been their home form, with five wins from five.

“It’s a special place here, with the fans behind you,” Brandt said, with an eye on next week’s home clash with Bayern. “That’ll be a sensational game.”

Freiburg ended the match with nine-men as Patrick Osterhage was sent off in the 63rd minute following a second yellow while Junior Adamu received a straight red for striking Dortmund’s Waldemar Anton in stoppage time.

At the BayArena, champions Bayer Leverkusen came from two goals down to win 5-2 against Heidenheim as Patrik Schick scored a hat-trick.

Heidenheim were two goals up within 21 minutes, with Niklas Dorsch and Mathias Honsak taking advantage of some sleepy defending.

Exequiel Palacios pulled one back on the half-hour mark before Schick scored three unanswered goals to wrestle back control of the match, before Granit Xhaka added a fifth.

Elsewhere, VfB Stuttgart downed bottom club Bochum 2-0 while VfL Wolfsburg edged Union Berlin 1-0.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2024