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Last-gasp winner caps fightback as Leipzig keep pace with Bayern
BERLIN, Feb 28, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – A last-gasp Alexander Sorloth goal
sealed RB Leipzig’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win at home to Borussia
Moenchengladbach on Saturday and kept them in the thick of the Bundesliga
title race.
Leipzig fought back with second-half goals by Christopher Nkunku and
Yussuf Poulsen before Sorloth’s winning header in the 93rd minute after
Gladbach led 2-0 at half-time thanks to strikes by Jonas Hofmann and Marcus
Thuram
“We delivered a top performance and deserved to win,” said Poulsen.
“After a game like that, confidence is high and puts a spring in your
step.”
The victory keeps second-placed Leipzig two points behind leaders Bayern
Munich, who earlier romped to a 5-1 home win over Cologne.
Gladbach were in complete control at half-time after Hofmann netted an
early penalty and Thuram used his shoulder to guide the ball into the net
from a Breel Embolo header.
However, Sorloth came off the bench and inspired the second-half fight
back.
The former Crystal Palace striker had a goal disallowed for handball
before setting up Nkunku, who fired home Leipzig’s first goal on 57 minutes.
Poulsen smashed home the equaliser on 66 minutes.
Leipzig had all the momentum and peppered the Gladbach goal before
Sorloth’s winning header deep into added time.
– Goretzka shines for Bayern –
Earlier, Bayern bounced back after taking just a point in their previous
two league games as midfielder Leon Goretzka created three goals in their
rout of Cologne.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting headed Bayern into an early lead before Robert
Lewandowski, the league’s top scorer, struck twice to increase his league
tally to 28 goals this season.
Serge Gnabry came off the bench to claim two late goals behind closed
doors at the Allianz Arena on his first appearance since tearing a thigh
muscle in Bayern’s Club World Cup final win in Qatar.
Coach Hansi Flick made just one change – Choupo-Moting for Kingsley Coman
– from the side which beat Lazio 4-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Bayern quickly built a 2-0 lead through Choupo-Moting and Lewandowski with
Goretzka setting up both goals.
However, Cologne midfielder Ellyes Skhiri chipped Manuel Neuer four
minutes after the break to pull a goal back.
With just over 25 minutes left, Flick settled nerves by bringing on Gnabry
and Thomas Mueller, who made his first appearance a fortnight after testing
positive for Covid-19.
Mueller’s pass split the Cologne defence and found Lewandowski who
restored the two-goal cushion on 65 minutes.
Cologne midfielder Dominick Drexler hit the post before Gnabry made it 4-1
by converting a cross, then claimed his second just before the final whistle
after an excellent pass from Goretzka.
Wolfsburg remain third, seven points behind Bayern, after their 2-0 home
win over Hertha Berlin, whose defender Lukas Kluenter turned the ball into
his own net before Maxence Lacroix scored the hosts’ second.
Wolfsburg defender Marin Pongracic was sent off in added time for a second
booking.
England winger Jadon Sancho converted a penalty and Brazil midfielder
Reinier scored his first goal for the club as Dortmund stayed fifth with a 3-
0 home win over Arminia Bielefeld.
Japan midfielder Wataru Endo netted his first two Bundesliga goals in
Stuttgart’s 5-1 thrashing of bottom side Schalke, whose Algeria midfielder
Nabil Bentaleb had a second-half penalty saved.
On Friday, fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt had their 11-match unbeaten
run ended by a shock 2-1 defeat at Werder Bremen, whose rising American star
Josh Sargent, 20, hit the winning goal.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1230HRS