RB Leipzig put pressure on Bayern and Stuttgart, winning Saturday evening against Hoffenheim 3-1, for Emil Forsberg’s last home meeting, while Dortmund continued to stand still in Augsburg (1-1) .
Thanks to its victory, won in the last 20 minutes under the leadership of Emil Forsberg who entered the game in the 65th minute, RB Leipzig has 32 points, as many as Bayern, third in the standings, and one more than Stuttgart. The Munich residents, however, have two matches less on the clock on Saturday evening: both to be played at home in their Allianz Arena. A first Sunday (7:30 p.m.) against Stuttgart for the summit of the 15th day, and a second against Union Berlin on January 24 (postponed to December 2 due to snow). Bayer Leverkusen, leader with 36 points and the last team still undefeated in the Bundesliga, hosts Eintracht Frankfurt in its BayArena on Sunday (5:30 p.m.), to consolidate its leadership position at the top of the championship.
Saturday evening, Leipzig dominated the debates against Hoffenheim and opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark, logically, with a powerful strike from Lukas Klostermann from six meters (34th). But Leipzig wasted their good first half just before the break, just eight minutes after opening the score. Goalkeeper Janis Blaswich missed his shot, and Ozan Kabak got the better of Simakan in the air to equalize. Blaswich recovered well in the second half with a superb reflex save on a header from Anton Stach in the 67th minute.
In the 70th minute, Emil Forsberg, who had just come on less than five minutes earlier to the cheers of the Leipzig stadium, gave his team the lead again. Mohamed Simakan, just before the last quarter of an hour, ensured a quiet end to the match. On a corner for Leipzig, Forsberg was very close to the double, but Oliver Baumann repelled his attempt. He could do nothing about the recovery of the French defender in the process.
After the meeting, Emil Forsberg formalized his departure from Leipzig for MLS and the New York Red Bulls. Arriving in January 2015, the 32-year-old Swede played nine years in eastern Germany, participating in the club’s rise from the 2nd division to the Champions League (semi-final in the summer of 2020) . On his record under the colors of the RB, he has two German Cups and a German Super Cup.
This victory allows Leipzig to distance itself in the standings from Borussia Dortmund, who once again floundered on the Augsburg pitch. Edin Terzic’s men continue to present two totally different faces this season, conquerors in the Champions League (first in their group, ahead of Paris SG, AC Milan and Newcastle) and much less brilliant in the championship.
On Saturday, they continued their standstill, with a draw (1-1) brought back from Augsburg to Bavaria. They have only won one match in the last seven days (three defeats and three draws), taking only six points out of a possible 21. With 26 points on the clock, they are now six points behind Leipzig, and see the gap on the first four places, qualifying for the next Champions League, widening.
