BERLIN: RB Leipzig climbed to the top of the Bundesliga after Dani Olmos second-half strike earned them a 1-0 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

Bayer Leverkusen dropped to third following a 2-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt as action resumed in the league following a brief Christmas break.

Emil Forsberg was denied from the penalty spot by a superb Gregor Kobel save midway through the first half, but Leipzig broke through in the 67th minute when Angelinos deflected cross fell to Olmo at the back post and he tucked in a cushioned volley.

Leipzig are on 31 points after 14 games, provisionally one ahead of Bayern Munich and three clear of third-placed Leverkusen.

Leverkusen missed their chance to go top earlier in the day when Frankfurt came back from a goal down to win.

Leverkusen midfielder Nadiem Amiri scored one of the goals of the season with his heel after being played in brilliantly by the 17-year-old Florian Wirtz in the 10th minute.

But goals from Amin Younes in the 22nd and an own-goal from Edmond Tapsoba in the 54th were enough for Frankfurt.

Union Berlin kept themselves in the top four when Taiwo Awoniyi scored one goal and made the other in a 2-0 win at Werder Bremen, who had a goal on the stroke of halftime ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside.

Freiburg netted three first-half goals as they climbed into the top half of the table with a convincing 3-1 win over Hoffenheim, and Augsburg edged out FC Cologne with an Iago goal making the difference in a 1-0 away victory.

A goal by Breel Embolo in the 58th minute gave Borussia Moenchengladbach a 1-0 win away to Arminia Bielefeld in a game that they dominated in terms of goal-scoring chances without being able to add to their tally.

Bottom side Schalke are now 30 games without a win — one short of the Bundesliga record — after a 3-0 defeat away to Hertha Berlin.

Former Tottenham manager Christian Gross, installed as Schalke’s fourth head coach this season, got off to a losing start as Arsenal loanee Matteo Guendouzi, Colombia striker Jhon Cordoba and his replacement, Poland forward Krzysztof Piatek, scored for Hertha.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2021