LEIPZIG — Lois Openda’s brace helped Leipzig end Bayer Leverkusen’s 35-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga as they came from two goals down to claim a 3-2 victory in the second round.
Leverkusen started brightly and created the first clear chance on six minutes when Edmond Tapsoba’s header forced Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi into action.
The Werkself gained momentum but lacked precision in the final third, with Piero Hincapie hitting the woodwork with a close-range header and Granit Xhaka firing just wide, reports Xinhua.
Leipzig almost scored against the run of play, but Benjamin Sesko shot wide from a promising position on the half-hour mark.
But it was Leverkusen who broke the deadlock on 39 minutes when Jeremie Frimpong raced through the Leipzig area before drilling the ball past Gulacsi and into the near post.
Xabi Alonso’s men doubled their advantage on the stroke of halftime when Alejandro Grimaldo latched on to Florian Wirtz’s through ball.
Leipzig responded well to cut the deficit in half after Benjamin Henrich’s pinpoint cross into the box allowed Kevin Kampl to make it 2-1 in the dying seconds of the first half.
The Red Bulls came out guns blazing after the restart and kept the Leverkusen defence on their toes, with Kampl’s long-range effort testing goalkeeper Matej Kovar before Castello Lukeba’s equalizer was ruled out for offside.
Leipzig had long since established a foothold in the game and deservedly equalized when Openda was set up by Sesko before nutmegging Kovar on the hour mark.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side as Openda remained in the thick of things and stunned Leverkusen with his second of the night in the closing stages.
Leverkusen were last beaten on May 27 last year when they lost 3-0 at Bochum.
“We take a lot of positives and negatives from this game. We played a good game in the first half. In the second half, we had no control and gave Leipzig too much space. We will learn from these mistakes. It’s not good to let an opponent come back after leading 2-0. It’s a process, we’re still early in the season,” said Leverkusen coach Alonso.
In Saturday’s other matches, Mainz came from behind to earn a 3-3 draw with Stuttgart thanks to Maxim Leitsch’s late equalizer. Eintracht Frankfurt recorded their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Hoffenheim. Borussia Monchengladbach overcame a resilient Bochum side to run out 2-0 winners. Newly promoted Holstein Kiel lost 2-0 at Wolfsburg and Dortmund shared the spoils with Werder Bremen after a goalless stalemate.
