Leipzig keep top spot in Germany after comeback win over Augsburg

RB Leipzig will go into the Bundesliga winter break in first place after coming from behind to claim a 3-1 home win against Augsburg on Saturday. The German league starts a four-week winter break on Sunday and Leipzig’s hard-fight home win left them three points clear.

Leipzig fell behind at home after just eight minutes when Augsburg’s top-scoring forward Florian Niederlechner stabbed home a cross.

However, Leipzig battered the visitors’ goal and their 16th attempt finally went in when midfielder Konrad Laimer curled his shot inside the top corner on 68 minutes.

The hosts took the lead with ten minutes to go when Czech forward Patrik Schick headed home his third goal in as many games after he was left unmarked at the far post.

Danish striker Yussuf Poulsen grabbed Leipzig’s third goal in the 89th minute when he converted a pass from Timo Werner.

Elsewhere, Dutch teenager Joshua Zirkzee continued his dream scoring run for Bayern Munich by giving the defending champions a late lead in their 2-0 win at home to Wolfsburg.

Having scored on his Bundesliga debut in their 3-1 midweek win at Freiburg, Zirkee, 18, fired home a Thomas Mueller pass with his first touch after coming off the bench at the Allianz Arena.

Germany winger Serge Gnabry then added a second goal just before the final whistle to seal the three points which leaves Bayern third.

The win came at a price, however, as defender Javi Martinez had to be helped off.

Bayern already have fellow centre-backs Niklas Suele and Lucas Hernandez sidelined by long-term injuries.

Schalke are fifth after their 2-2 draw at home to Freiburg, who converted two second-half penalties.

The Royal Blues took the lead in Gelsenkirchen when Turkey midfielder Suat Serdar showed great finishing. Freiburg equalised early in the second half when Germany striker Nils Petersen converted a penalty.

Their South Korean midfielder Kwon Chang-Hoon then hit the post just before Freiburg winger Vincenzo Grifo chipped home a penalty attempt to put them 2-1 up with 23 minutes left.

However, Schalke claimed a point when substitute forward Ahmed Kutucu hit a brilliant shot from the edge of the area.

The result leaves Schalke level on 30 points with Borussia Dortmund, who crashed 2-1 defeat at Hoffenheim on Friday.

Cologne left the relegation places with a 1-0 win at home to Werder Bremen, who drop into the bottom three, thanks to a first-half goal by Colombia striker Jhon Cordoba from close range.

After three straight defeats, 10-man Leverkusen are now sixth after their 1-0 win at Mainz as Argentina striker Lucas Alario scored a 90th-minute winner.

Earlier, Sergis Adamyan and Andrej Kramaric scored late goals as Hoffenheim fought back for a 2-1 win to stop Borussia Dortmund from moving within a point of Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig on Friday.

Adamyan and Kramaric responded following the break after Mario Goetze, who was making his first start in over a month, opened the scoring in the first half.

Dortmund remain in fourth, four points behind Leipzig and second-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hoffenheim jump to sixth with the German top flight heading into a month-long winter break after this weekend.

With club captain Marco Reus ruled out until January with a muscular problem Dortmund coach Lucien Favre named Goetze in attack.

The hosts made four changes from the midweek victory at Union Berlin, a first win in five games, as Norway’s Havard Nordtveit made his first start for the club in more than a year at centre-back.

Dortmund led after 16 minutes of play as Achraf Hakimi found acres of space down the right wing.

The Morocco wing-back, on loan from Real Madrid, pulled back a low cross into the box and Goetze tapped home from short range despite Sebastian Rudy’s goal-line efforts.

With six minutes left of the half Thorgan Hazard was denied a chance to double Dortmund’s lead following a superb Oliver Baumann save.

Despite Dortmund dominating the game and having 10 shots on goal, Hoffenheim were level with 11 minutes to play.

Manuel Akanji made a messy attempt at a clearance and Armenia winger Adamyan equalised.

The unexpected comeback was complete when Kramaric beat Roman Buerki with a spinning header four minutes from time.

On Saturday, Leipzig host Augsburg and third-placed Bayern welcome Wolfsburg, before Gladbach head to a rejuvenated Hertha Berlin.

Agence France-Presse



German League results:

Cologne 1 (Cordoba 39) Werder Bremen 0

Mainz 0 Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Alario 90+3)

Schalke 2 (Serdar 27, Kutucu 80) Freiburg 2 (Petersen 54-pen, Grifo 67-pen)

Bayern Munich 2 (Zirkzee 86, Gnabry 89) Wolfsburg 0

RB Leipzig 3 (Laimer 68, Schick 80, Poulsen 89) Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 8)