RB Leipzig Ends Bayer Leverkusen’s Unbeaten Bundesliga Streak with 3-2 Victory
A 3-2 loss at home to RB Leipzig on Saturday put an end to Bayer Leverkusen’s remarkable 35-game Bundesliga winning streak.
They had not lost in the Bundesliga since May 2023, and this defeat ends their impressive record in the premier football league in Germany.
Champions Bayer Leverkusen’s 35-game winning streak in the top division came to an end on Saturday as they lost 3-2 at home against RB Leipzig, their first Bundesliga defeat since May 2023. Alex Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong gave Leverkusen a 2-0 lead in the first half of a tumultuous contest that saw visiting coach Marco Rose sent to the stands. However, just before halftime, Leipzig’s Kevin Kampl scored against the run of play, and Lois Openda leveled the score early in the second half.
With ten minutes left, Openda scored once more to give Leipzig the victory over the league and cup winners who had gone undefeated the previous season. Jonathan Tah, the captain of Leverkusen, stated, “We had the opportunity to finish the game, but the goals we conceded were far too easy.”
“We defend as a team, but we fell asleep a few times and of course we’re going to be punished.”
The loss for Leverkusen halted a streak of 43 domestic matches without defeat, a stretch of 463 days. Xabi Alonso’s team attempted to preserve their record—they had scored 17 goals in the 88th or later minute this year—but were unable to equalize this time.
“We anticipated a challenging game since Leverkusen plays extremely talented football. We wanted to take the initiative and show bravery,” Kampl remarked. “We are aware of our upfront quality. Today we were really chilly.”
Rose was shown two yellow cards in a row for touchline outbursts following a foul on his player in the first half, and he was eventually sent to the stands.
After Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface struck Amadou Haidara’s head with a bicycle kick attempt, the Leipzig coach still looked furious. He was upset Boniface escaped with a booking as Haidara needed to be replaced.
Dortmund held at Bremen
A toothless and unruly Borussia Dortmund were restricted to a 0-0 draw at Werder Bremen earlier on Saturday. After center-back Nico Schlotterbeck was sent off, Dortmund saw the last 17 minutes of play with a man down while dominating possession but unable to break through.
Maximilian Beier was their only available striker going into the match after Sebastien Haller was loaned out to La Liga team Leganes late on Friday. Serhou Guirassy, a summer acquisition, is still many weeks away from making a comeback from a knee injury. He was brought in to replace Niclas Fuellkrug after the Germany striker moved for West Ham.
After challenging Justin Njinmah, Schlotterbeck received a second yellow card, cutting his team’s roster to ten players.
Pascal Gross, a midfielder for Dortmund, stated, “Everything isn’t exactly great yet.” “The coach prepared us well but we need to do better at implementing it” .
The unexpected runners-up from the previous year, Stuttgart, lost points from a winning position once more, drawing 3–3 with Mainz after giving up an equalizer in stoppage time. Stuttgart took the lead through goals from Enzo Millot and Jamie Leweling in the first fifteen minutes.
However, Millot’s careless penalty kick late in the first half, converted by Nadiem Amiri, allowed Mainz to retake the lead. After sixty-two minutes, Jonathan Burkardt, the winner of the penalty, headed Mainz to a draw.
With two minutes left, Fabian Rieder’s incredible free kick gave Stuttgart, who had previously led in both their Bundesliga opener and their Super Cup matchup versus Leverkusen, the opportunity to lead once more. Maxim Leitsch of Mainz stole a point for the visitors in the fourth minute of extra time.
Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller told Sky, “We actually played a pretty good game, but we undid it by making simple mistakes.” Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Hoffenheim 3-1 in their first-ever home game. Hugo Ekitike, a forward for Frankfurt, made another strong showing in the victory, scoring the first goal and setting up Hugo Larsson for the second.
Early in the second half, Andrej Kramaric of Hoffenheim—who scored a hat-trick in the team’s opening game of the season last week—pulled one back for the visitors, but Egypt’s Omar Marmoush added another goal to seal the victory.
While top-tier newcomers Holstein Kiel lost 2-0 at home to Wolfsburg, they are still searching for their first Bundesliga point. Borussia Moenchengladbach triumphed 2-0 at Bochum.
