LEVERKUSEN: Bayer Leverk­usen’s 35-game unbeaten Bund­esliga run ended on Saturday when visiting RB Leipzig came from two goals down to snatch a 3-2 win helped by a Lois Openda double.

Champions Leverkusen dominated from the start and Jeremie Frimpong opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a low strike from close range before Alejandro Grimaldo doubled the lead just before the break.

Leipzig pulled a goal back through midfielder Kevin Kampl deep in first-half stoppage time, however, and Openda levelled in the 57th minute before he fired home an unstoppable shot from distance which gave Leverkusen keeper Matej Kovar no chance.

“We knew it was going to be very hard to play here, Leverkusen play lethal football. We wanted to be courageous and get on the front foot,” said Kampl.“We know we’ve also got quality up front. We were ice-cold today.”

The game was halted for a late penalty check for Leverkusen but the referee decided Castello Lukeba’s challenge on Patrik Schick did not merit a spot-kick after consulting with VAR.

Leipzig are the first team to beat Leverkusen in the Bundesliga for 462 days, since VfL Bochum did so 3-0 on the last day of the 2022-23 season.

Xabi Alonso’s side were one result away from matching Hamburg’s tally of 36 games unbeaten in the 1982-83 season.

It is the second-longest run in history after Bayern Munich’s record 53 under Pep Guardiola from 2012 to 2014.

Leipzig moved to the top of the table on six points with Leverkusen in ninth on three.

“We’ll take a lot of positives and negatives from this game,” Alonso told a press conference.

“We played a good game in the first half. We were happy with that and wanted to build on it in the second. (But) We had no control in the second half and gave Leipzig too much space. We didn’t do well in the back line.

“We will learn from these mistakes. It’s not good to let an opponent come back after leading 2-0. But it’s a process, we’re still early in the season.”

Earlier on Saturday, last season’s surprise runners-up VfB Stuttgart again gave away points from a winning position, drawing 3-3 with Mainz after conceding an equaliser in stoppage time.

Enzo Millot and Jamie Leweling early strikes in the first half gave Stuttgart a comfortable lead but Nadiem Amiri halved the deficit from the penalty spot before Jonathan Burkardt, who won the penalty, headed Mainz level after 62 minutes.

Stuttgart — who led in their Bun­desliga opener and in the Super Cup against Leverkusen bef­ore losing both — led again when Fabian Rieder scored a stunning free-kick with two minutes remaining. Mainz’s Maxim Leitsch scored in the fourth minute of added time to snatch a point for the visitors.

Meanwhile, a toothless and ill-disciplined Borussia Dortmund were held to a 0-0 draw at Werder Bre­men. Dortmund dominated po­s­­s­ession but failed to break through and played the final 17 min­utes a man down after centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck was sent off.

Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt won their opening home game 3-1 against Hoffenheim while Borussia Moenchengladbach won 2-0 at Bochum.

Top-flight newcomers Holstein Kiel are still looking for their first Bundesliga point, going down 2-0 at home to Vfl Wolfsburg.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2024