Leipzig blow chance to knock Bayern off top of Bundesliga

Wolfsburg's German midfielder Ridle Baku (centre) vies for the ball with Leipzig's German defender Marcel Halstenberg (left) and Leipzig's Hungarian defender Willi Orban. — AFP

Berlin - Fourth-placed Dortmund also dropped points

By AFP

Published: Sat 16 Jan 2021, 10:07 PM

RB Leipzig were left fuming having again squandered the chance to usurp Bayern Munich as Bundesliga leaders after being held to a 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg on Saturday.

For the second consecutive Saturday, Leipzig, who lost 3-1 last weekend at home to Dortmund, missed out on first place.

“We can be happy with the way we played, but it’s very, very annoying that we didn’t win,” said Leipzig director Markus Kroesche.

Embattled Bayern, who crashed to a 3-2 league defeat at Moenchengladbach and were then dumped out of the German Cup in midweek, host Freiburg at home on Sunday.

They stay a point ahead in the table.

Julian Nagelsmann’s Leipzig got off to a great start when Nordi Mukiele gave them an early lead after converting a pass from Emil Forsberg.

However, Wolfsburg roared back with goals from Wout Weghorst and Renato Steffen, which clipped the chest of Leipzig defender Willi Orban on its way into the net.

Orban made amends when he tapped home Leipzig’s equaliser in the second half.

Fourth-placed Dortmund also dropped points as Marco Reus missed a late penalty in their 1-1 draw at home to strugglers Mainz, who climbed off the bottom.

“I could have decided the game - I am very, very sorry,” said a crestfallen Reus, who buried his face in his shirt following his miss 15 minutes before the final whistle.

“The disappointment is huge - we wanted to climb the table and we’ve missed the chance to take another step.”

Defender Levin Oztunali gave Mainz the lead when he beat Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki from 20 metres just after half-time.

Belgium defender Thomas Meunier equalised, but Dortmund’s 16-year-old striker Youssoufa Moukoko deserves credit for keeping the ball alive in the area and providing the crucial pass.

Reus fired his spot-kick wide after a foul on Meunier in the area.

Union Berlin are so far the only top five club to win this weekend after beating third-placed Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 on Friday.

Leverkusen were the second big name to crash in Berlin after Union also beat Dortmund at home last month.

Union’s home win was overshadowed by allegations of a racist slur aimed at Leverkusen midfielder Nadiem Amiri, which the hosts are investigating.

Werder Bremen earned their first home win since October with late goals in a 2-0 win at home to Augsburg.

Bremen winger Felix Agu, 21, celebrated his first league start by scoring, then setting up Czech defender Theodor Gebre Selassie.

“There is nothing better, I really enjoyed that,” said Agu, who had played a total of 91 minutes on his three previous league appearances.

Both Hoffenheim at home to Arminia Bielefeld and Cologne home to Hertha Berlin finished in goalless draws with all four teams in the bottom six places.