Wolfsburg dent Leipzig title hopes with goalless draw; Leverkusen pip Frankfurt, go 4th

RB Leipzig dropped more points in the Bundesliga title race after labouring to a 0-0 draw at Wolfsburg on Saturday. Leipzig missed the goal threat of Timo Werner, who started the game on the bench after overcoming a muscular problem during the week.

Despite being subbed on in 60th minute, Werner — who has 21 goals for RB in the Bundesliga this season — failed to make an impact in a dour encounter with few chances for either side, marking just the third time this season that Leipzig have failed to get on the scoresheet.

Second-placed Leipzig could finish the weekend five points behind Bayern if the leaders beat Augsburg on Sunday.

At the BayArena, Bayer Leverkusen dominated Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 to jump up to fourth in the table.

German football’s golden boy Kai Havertz opened the scoring in the fourth minute with his sixth of the season, tapping in a cross from Moussa Diaby. Karim Bellarabi scored the home side’s second just 10 minutes later when chipping in from close range.

Leverkusen’s teenage Brazilian forward Paulinho added two more in a five-minute period midway through the second half, both a direct product of Bayer’s commitment to counter-pressing and counter-attacking under coach Peter Bosz.

Schalke and Hoffenheim fought out a 1-1 draw at the Veltins Arena. American midfielder Weston McKennie scored just his second goal from 67 Bundesliga appearances when his left-footed drive put his side 1-0 up in the 20th minute.

Hoffenheim levelled in the 69th minute through Christoph Baumgartner.

Elsewhere, relegation-threatened Werder Bremen held on for a 2-2 draw away at Hertha Berlin. Bremen flew out of the blocks to chalk up a 2-0 lead after just six minutes with goals through Josh Sargent and Davy Klaassen.

Niklas Stark pulled one back for the home side when heading in Marvin Plattenhardt’s free-kick on 41 minutes, before a 60th-minute tap-in from Matheus Cunha drew the scores level.

Hertha were awarded a penalty in the dying stages for handball, but it was overruled after a VAR review.

Freiburg kept their hopes for European football alive with a dominant 3-1 home win over Union Berlin. Freiburg’s Roland Sallai broke the deadlock in the 34th minute, before captain Christian Guenter doubled the lead in the 55th minute, deceiving Union defender Neven Subotic to smash the ball past keeper Rafal Gikiewicz.

Sebastian Andersson gave the visitors hope in the 61st minute, scoring his 11th goal of the campaign to make it 2-1. Freiburg’s Robin Koch put the game beyond doubt in the 82nd minute, firing the ball into the hands of Gikiewicz who spilled the ball over the line.

Later on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund have a chance to go second when they head to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Agence France-Presse



German League results on Saturday:

Bayer Leverkusen 4 (Havertz 4, Bellarabi 14, Paulinho 49, 55) Eintracht Frankfurt 0

 VfL Wolfsburg 0 RB Leipzig 0

 Hertha Berlin 2 (Stark 41, Cunha 60) Werder Bremen 2 (Sargent 3, Klaassen 6)

 Freiburg 3 (Sallai 34, Gunter 55, Koch 82) Union Berlin 1 (Andersson 61)

 Schalke 1 (McKennie 20) Hoffenheim 1 (Baumgartner 69)

 Playing on Sunday: Bayern Munich vs Augsburg (1430), Mainz vs Fortuna Duesseldorf (1700)