The new year has already begun, but in the top five European leagues there is still only one undefeated team. Bayer Leverkusen coached by Xabi Alonso. Away from home, they won a dramatic 3:2 against Leipzig and are still the number one favorites for the title.
Leipzig started strong and opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a beautiful goal. Xavi Simons positioned the ball coming from the edge of the box in front of him with two deft touches and from the turn sent it so precisely into the bottom corner of the goal that Finnish national team goalkeeper Lukaš Hradecky had no hope of stopping it. Immediately the home team had two more opportunities to increase their success, but they wasted them.
After half an hour of play, Leverkusen suffered another setback, as right winger Jeremie Frimpong had to leave the field due to injury. A few minutes later, coach Alonso himself received a yellow card for arguing with the referee, and Leipzig dominated the match until the end of the first half.
On the other hand, only 75 seconds had been played in the second half, when Leipzig defenders and Janis Blaswich let in a pass from the flank, and Frimpong substitute Nathan Tella calmly pushed the ball into the net. The match opens and in the 56th minute the hosts take advantage again. Lois Openda, the club’s best scorer, closed the counterattack with a precise shot following a pass from Dani Olmo, who returned to the pitch after the break due to injury.
If there were about ten minutes between the second and third goals, there wasn’t even that between the third and fourth. In the 63rd minute, a corner was earned and Jonathan Tah, who rose forcefully into the air, headed the ball towards the target – 2:2. Blaswich appealed that Florian Wirtz, who was spying in front of the goal, obstructed him against the rules, but head referee Matthias Jöllenveck did not listen to him.
It already seemed that the match would end in a moderately satisfactory draw for both sides, but Alonso had another trump card in his pocket. The extra minutes had just begun when another corner was earned, both Xaver Schlager and Benjamin Henrichs stopped at the far post and Pedro Hincapie, who immediately ran there, shot the ball into the net.
27 – Bayer 04 Leverkusen remain unbeaten in their last 27 matches in all competitions (24 wins and 3 draws). Among Bundesliga teams, only FC Bayern has a longer winning streak (32 games from 2019 to 2020). Invincible. #RBLB04 pic.twitter.com/ldZwokbaIZ
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) January 20, 2024
The 3-2 win means Bayern Munich, who have played two games less, are still seven points behind Leverkusen. Having missed the chance to climb to third place, Leipzig can no longer realistically aim for anything other than a Champions League place.
RB Leipzig – Leverkuseni Bayer 2:3 (1:0)
7. Xavi Simons, 56. Lois Openda – 47. Nathan Tella, 63. Jonathan Tah, 90+1. Pedro Hincapie
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2024-01-20 20:38:48
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