Last-minute heartbreak against Leverkusen
RBL take lead twice through Xavi and Openda | Leverkusen bag two equalisers in frantic game | Werkself score injury-time winner
Loss against the league leaders.
RB Leipzig fell to a crushing 3-2 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen on matchday 18 of the Bundesliga season.
RBL got off to a fast start and took an early lead, with Xavi showing off his dazzling skills and slotting the ball into the bottom corner after Xaver Schlager's cross. The boys continued to give the Werkself the runaround for the first half an hour.
Things heated up in the second half, as Leverkusen got an equaliser through Nathan Tella (47'). Then, Lois Openda finished off a wonderful counterattack to put us back in front (56'), before Jonathan Tah levelled things up once again in the 63rd minute.
After a back-and-forth contest, Leverkusen would end up victorious, as Piero Hincapie poked home in injury time to seal a dramatic win for the Werkself (90+1').
Bundesliga | RB Leipzig – Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Line-ups
RBL: Blaswich – Simakan (74' Henrichs), Klostermann (C), Castello Jr., Raum – Seiwald (74' Kampl), Schlager – Xavi (84' Elmas), Olmo (74' Baumgartner) – Openda, Sesko (74' Poulsen)
B04: Hradecky (C) – Stanisic, Tah, Hincapie – Frimpong (31' Tella), Xhaka, Palacios (88' Andrich), Grimaldo – Hofmann, Wirtz – Schick (90+2' Hlozek)
RBL unused subs: Gulacsi (GK) – Lenz, Bitshiabu, Seiwald, Eduardo
B04 unused subs: Kovar (GK) – Amiri, Mbamba-Muanda, Fosu-Mensah, Puerta, Izekor
Goals
1-0 Xavi (7'), 1-1 Tella (47'), 2-1 Openda (56'), 2-2 Tah (63'), 2-3 Hincapie (90+1')
Yellow cards
Xavi (71'), Schlager (87') | Tah (12'), Stanisic (38'), Wirtz (66')
Officials
- Referee: Matthias Jöllenbeck (Freiburg)
- First assistant: Robert Kempter (Stockach)
- Second assistant: Jonas Weickenmeier (Bad Homburg)
- Fourth official: Florian Lechner (Hornstorf)
- Video assistant: Benjamin Brand (Schwebheim)
- VAR assistant: Tobias Fritsch (Mainz)
Attendance
46,529 at the Red Bull Arena
5th minute: Fast start
RBL have the first real chance of the game, as Benjamin Sesko is played through on goal by Xavi. The Slovenian is unable to get a shot off and the ball spills back to Lois Openda at the edge of the box, whose shot is saved by Hradecky.
7th minute: RBL take the lead!
Xavi opens the scoring in sensational style! Benjamin Sesko lays the ball off to Xaver Schlager, who floats a ball into the box. Xavi controls it and juggles it in the air, before turning and shooting. The ball flies into the bottom corner to put us ahead!
17th minute: Blaswich stands tall
Leverkusen are on the attack. Jonas Hofmann plays the ball back to Alejandro Grimaldo, who shoots from around 14 yards out. Janis Blaswich produces a great save to deny the Spaniard, but it would not have counted anyway, as Hofmann was in an offside position in the buildup.
22nd minute: Chances for Simakan
Mohamed Simakan is causing a lot of problems for Leverkusen! The defender finds himself in an advanced position and tests Hradecky from range, before picking up the ball again and firing towards the far post, but Leverkusen's keeper denies him the second time round too. It's a fantastic start for RBL!
40th minute: Leverkusen growing into the game
After a lot of pressure from RBL, Leverkusen look to be playing better football. That being said, Leipzig's defence is keeping things tight and not giving the Werkself's attackers a sniff, with Xaver Schlager putting in a huge challenge on Jonas Hofmann to keep us in front.
47th minute: Tella equalises
Not the start we wanted to the second 45. Alejandro Grimaldo puts a cross into the box from the left-hand side, where Patrik Schick narrowly misses the ball. Nathan Tella is standing at the far post to put the ball into an empty net, however.
56th minute: Openda!
RBL find the perfect response to the equaliser! Xavi picks the ball up after a Leverkusen corner and leads the counterattack. He finds Dani Olmo on the right wing, whose perfectly-weighted pass puts Lois Openda through on goal. The Belgian finishes off the attack by slotting the ball into the bottom corner to give us the lead once again.
63rd minute: Leverkusen score again
Leverkusen score from a corner to make it 2-2. Jonas Hofmann's delivery finds Jonathan Tah, who heads home to level things up once again. Keep pushing, lads!
74th minute: Four changes for RBL
Marco Rose has brought on some fresh legs for the end of the match in the form of Yussuf Poulsen, Christoph Baumgartner, Kevin Kampl and Benjamin Henrichs.
90+1st minute: Leverkusen make it 3-2
Set-pieces prove to be Leipzig's undoing once again. Piero Hincapie latches onto a ball into the box and manages to bundle it over the line to give the Werkself the lead in the dying moments.
