RB Leipzig is the Bundesliga leader for at least a few hours. The team of trainer Julian Nagelsmann was 0-3 too strong for SC Freiburg on Saturday and now has one point more than reigning national champion Bayern Munich, which plays against Borussia Dortmund in the evening hours: 53 for 52 points. Despite Wout Weghorst’s number fifteen competition goal, VfL Wolfsburg suffered the first league defeat since January 3 at TSG Hoffenheim: 2-1, but remains third. The Bayer Leverkusen of trainer Peter Bosz booked the first competition victory in a month at the expense of Borussia Mönchengladbach: 0-1.
SC Freiburg 0-3 RB Leipzig
For forty minutes, the defense of Freiburg was rock solid and hardly allowed. A careless moment in the build-up then formed the basis of the opening goal. Baptiste Santamaria was put under pressure by Kevin Kampl, after which the ball ended up in the penalty area at Yussuf Poulsen. The attacker lost to Christopher Nkunku in front of goalkeeper Florian Müller: 0-1.
A hard blow for Christian Streich’s team, but also the 0-2 after more than an hour of play was preceded by a mistake by Freiburg. Nicolas Höfler lost the ball to Kampl, who gave a pass to Nkunku. The attacker outplayed Müller and saw that Alexander Sörloth was in better shape: 0-2. Eleven minutes before the end, Emil Forsberg determined the final score with a precise shot in the corner: 0-3. Justin Kluivert was the only fielder to start on the bench and not get any playing time from Nagelsmann.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
The meeting in Leverkusen ended earlier this season in 4-3, but the reunion in Borussia Park was significantly less spectacular. Bayer had a little more preponderance and often opted for attacks via the left (Demarai Gray) or right (Moussa Diaby), although that did not lead to life-sized opportunities for die Werkself. Bayer goalkeeper Lennart Grill only had to take action in the first 45 minutes on a shot from Alassane Pléa and was lucky that Edmond Tapsoba was able to block a good shot from Hannes Wolf in time.
After less than an hour of play, the ball seemed to hit the spot when Marcus Thuram was toppled by Jeremie Frimpong, who was in the base of Bayer for the first time. However, the VAR found Valentin Lazaro offside. Bayer pushed a little more, got a good chance through Nadiem Amiri and struck after 77 minutes. After a capture by Jonathan Tah, it was Diaby who can be turned his shot by Yann Sommer, but the rebound was a prey for Patrik Schick: 0-1. With the victory, Bayer, where Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Daley Sinkgraven were missing due to injuries, will at least temporarily take over fifth place from Borussia Dortmund.
TSG Hoffenheim – VfL Wolfsburg 2-1
The team of coach Oliver Glasner, who was plunged into mourning by RB Leipzig (2-0 defeat) in the midweek cup meeting, also lagged behind the facts against Hoffenheim before the eighth minute of play expired. A cross from Pavel Kaderábek was accepted with the chest by Christoph Baumgartner, who hit hard in the short corner and through the bottom of the crossbar: 1-0. Weghorst, who missed a penalty last Wednesday, managed to level the score fifteen minutes later. Xaver Schlager sent an excellent deep pass, after which the Dutch striker hit a high top speed, stayed ahead of the chasing defenders and then finished cool-blooded: 1-1. This makes the Dutchman the first player in the history of VfL Wolfsburg to have scored at least fifteen goals in three Bundesliga seasons in a row.
A few minutes after his goal, Weghorst got another chance to put his name on the scoreboard, but goalkeeper Oliver Baumann saved the game. Hoffenheim was not put off the leg by the Wolfsburg spirit of attack, and came back in the lead just before half time. Kaderábek served Andrej Kramaric with a cross in the sixteen-meter area, who convincingly scored the 2-1. In the second act, referee Markus Schmidt awarded the home side a penalty after a foul by Bote Baku, but that decision was rectified by the video referee: no penalty. Furthermore, Wolfsburg tried to turn the tide, although a second hit was no longer found. Joshua Brenet and Melayro Bogarde stayed on the bench with the home team for ninety minutes.
Wout Weghorst only approaches the keeper and once again turns out to be ice cold in front of the goal! ?? ?? ESPN 4 #? #tsgwob pic.twitter.com/VVnvzMWjs8
– ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) March 6, 2021
Hertha BSC – FC Augsburg 2-1
The team of captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and associates started the meeting in Berlin energetically, as the opening goal was already found in the second minute of play. After a long-running attack, André Hahn managed to get the ball in front of Lászlo Bénes, who shot in diagonally from the turn: 0-1. Hertha’s answer, which kicked off with Deyovaisio Zeefuik, took until the 62nd minute. Krzysztof Piatek was reached after a nice depth ball from the back and a ditto cross from Vladimir Darida, from which the Polish striker made a convincing header: 1-1.
In the final phase of the match, Dodi Lukebakio had an excellent header on behalf of Hertha to get the three points out of the fire, but his attempt went just wide of the left post. The winning was found a little later by Lukebakio, who shot his 2-1 from a penalty kick. A foul by Mads Pedersen prompted referee Florian Badstübner to award a penalty.