Update
Backlog, injuries, drama
Leverkusen madness again in stoppage time
January 20, 2024, 8:27 p.m
Spectacle in the Bundesliga. The top game between RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen lives up to its name. The home team scored two fantastic goals. The guests led by super coach Xabi Alonso hold their own, come back twice, dominate and win in the last minute.
Xabi Alonso cheered exuberantly in front of his own fans, the Bayer Leverkusen professionals jumped wildly across the pitch. With the next win in injury time, the league leaders extended their unbeaten streak in the Bundesliga to 18 games and increased the pressure on pursuers FC Bayern. First round champions Leverkusen fought their way to a 3-2 (0-1) win at RB Leipzig in the top duel on Saturday evening and, as in the previous week’s 1-0 win at FC Augsburg, only scored in the final phase.
“If we win the games like that, we’ll of course be happy to accept it,” said Jonas Hofmann about another late winning goal. What sets the team apart? “The mentality, the team spirit, the hunger to never give up a game,” explained Bayer goalscorer Jonathan Tah. Coach Alonso gave them the recipe for success to never lose faith.
Xavi Simons (8th minute) gave the Saxons an early lead, Nathan Tella (47th) rewarded Bayer’s effort with the equalizer in front of 46,529 fans. Tah (63′) equalized the renewed RB lead by Lois Openda (56′), before Piero Hincapie (90’+1) made the decision. The leader is seven points ahead of their pursuer Bayer Munich, who have played two fewer games.
Leipzig feels Dortmund’s breath
After the second defeat this year, RB is only ahead of fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund in the fight for the Champions League places thanks to the better goal difference. “I’m extremely angry about how things went,” said national player David Raum. “We could have won the game and are beating ourselves again.”
The teams did not have to forego the support of their fans in the top game. As expected, the supporters of Leipzig and Leverkusen did not take part in the investor protest against the German Football League. In most of the other matches on the day, the fans caused the game to be interrupted by throwing objects in the first twelve minutes.
In the duel between the Brauseclub, which had previously been winless twice, and the supposedly invincible Werkself, the topic was different. The RB fans were looking forward to Dani Olmo’s starting eleven comeback. The injury-prone technician, who was recently put out of action by a sprained shoulder joint, started for the first time since the beginning of September – and most of Leipzig’s attacks came through him.
Leverkusen starts weakly
After less than ten minutes, Benjamin Sesko Tah danced past and passed briefly to Xaver Schlager, whose cross landed at Simons. The Dutchman didn’t care that he had his back to the goal. He took the ball with his right, turned and moved to the short corner with his left – unstoppable. A minute later, Sesko slid in on a cross from Olmo and the ball whizzed just past the goal.
And Bavarian? Had a plan and a system worth seeing, but had to accept the next setbacks defensively. Tah received his fifth yellow card and will miss next week’s game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. After half an hour it was over for Jeremie Frimpong. The extremely important full-back was supported as he went into the dressing room. Bayer reported a painful blow to the lower leg.
A loss by Frimpong would be extremely bitter for the championship candidate. The Dutch international has scored five goals and seven assists in the league alone and has appeared in every game in the first half of the season. The loss didn’t change much about the game. Leverkusen’s combinations were worth seeing, but the shots were almost exclusively made from afar. Leipzig was waiting for counterattacks and mostly played them through Olmo and Simons – only the return was missing at first.
Hincapie sprints across half the court
Tella, who came on for Frimpong, took care of that. Bayer cleverly shifted the game to the left side of the attack and created a majority through several passes. Alejandro Grimaldo’s sharp cross rushed through the entire RB penalty area, at the other end of which Tella simply pushed in. The room seemed quite disorientated and Tella didn’t notice it behind her.
The game now picked up even more momentum. Florian Wirtz (55th) failed with a shot past RB keeper Janis Blaswich. After the following corner, Leipzig took the lead again via the stations Simons, Olmo and Openda. It only lasted a few minutes. Tah rose highest after a corner and equalized. Schlager felt fouled during the action, but referee Matthias Jöllenbeck saw it differently.
Both teams neutralized each other until injury time, then Bayer once again showed their set-piece strength. A corner slipped through the penalty area, but Hincapie evaded Schlager and was spot on at the second post – and sprinted across half the pitch, cheering wildly.