BERLIN: RB Leipzig were left rueing their squandered chance to replace Bayern Munich as Bundesliga leaders on Saturday after being held to a 2-2 draw at VfL Wolfsburg.

For the second consecutive Saturday, Leipzig, who lost 3-1 last weekend at home to Borussia Dortmund, missed out on first place. Bayern, who have a game in hand, stay a point ahead in the table.

“It’s tough, you always have to deliver and when you look at the other results, three points would have been great,” Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann said.

“I am sure Leverkusen and Dortmund would say the same thing,” he added after rivals Bayer Leverkusen lost at Union Berlin on Friday while Dortmund drew at home to Mainz 05. “There are a lot of good teams in the league and you have to go to your limits each time.”

Nagelsmann’s men 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, whose shot 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 captain 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 after firing wide from the spot 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.”

The draw was enough for Mainz to provisionally move off the bottom on goal difference from Schalke 04.

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 deserved 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.

VfB Stuttgart’s wait for a home win continued after drawing with Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-2, though it felt like a home win when Silas Wamangituka scored a penalty to equalise with the last kick of the game.

Gladbach were 2-1 up deep into added time thanks to a Denis Zakaria effort, after Lars Stindl’s spot-kick had been cancelled out when Nicolas Gonzalez scored Stuttgart’s 3,000th Bundesliga goal.

Wamangituka converted a 96th-minute penalty after VAR ruled Stuttgart forward Sasa Kalajdzic was fouled when he backed into Gladbach defender Ramy Bensebaini.

Gladbach remained seventh, eight points behind Bayern.

Werder Bremen scored late to beat Augsburg 2-0 at home, Hoffenheim drew 0-0 at home to Arminia Bielefeld while Cologne against Hertha Berlin finished in a goalless stalemate.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021