Hoffenheim came from a goal down to equalize three times and took the lead four minutes from time in a wild debut from new manager Christian Ilzer.

Hoffenheim’s Adam Hlozek scored twice while Tom Bischof scored a smart free-kick and Jakob Bruun Larsen scored the winner in the 86th minute.

Leipzig’s efforts came from Willi Orban, Antonio Nusa and an own goal from Hoffenheim’s Stanley Nsoki.

Tied on points with Bayern just three days ago, Leipzig lost two and drew one and now sit eight behind the league leaders.

Leipzig had conceded just five goals in the league before Saturday’s outing.

Eintracht Frankfurt can leapfrog Leipzig into second place and close the gap on Bayern to six points when they host Werder Bremen later on Saturday.

In Dortmund, the home side won 4-0 against Freiburg thanks to goals from Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens, while the visitors finished with nine men.

Under fire and out of the European rankings ahead of the game, Dortmund’s only saving grace this league campaign has been their home form, winning five out of five.

The hosts got on track early on when Beier, who scored a brace for the Germany Under-21s against France this week, opened the scoring in the seventh minute.

Midfielder Nmecha, who scored for the German senior team in the 1-1 draw with Hungary in midweek, added a second goal with a superb long-range effort in the 40th minute.

Freiburg’s hopes of a comeback were dashed after 63 minutes when Patrick Osterhage received a second yellow card for a rough scuffle with Marcel Sabitzer.

From the ensuing free kick, Dortmund’s Brandt headed the ball home and England winger Gittens scored a fourth to seal the match with 13 minutes remaining.

Freiburg’s Junior Adamu saw red for hitting Dortmund’s Waldemar Anton in stoppage time, reducing his team to nine men.

Dortmund have now won their last six games against Freiburg, scoring 24 goals and conceding five.

Reigning champions Leverkusen came from two goals down to win 5-2 at home against Heidenheim thanks to a hat-trick from Patrick Schick.

Heidenheim, who host Chelsea in the Conference League on Thursday, were two goals ahead in 21 minutes, with Niklas Dorsch and Mathias Honsak taking advantage of a sleepy defense.

World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios pulled one back on the half-hour mark before Schick, replacing the injured Victor Boniface, scored three unanswered goals to regain control of the match before Granit Xhaka added a fifth eight minutes from the end.

Stuttgart, last season’s runners-up, scored twice in the second half through Chris Fuehrich and Justin Diehl to win 2-0 at home against bottom-placed Bochum, who have just one point from 11 games this season.

Elsewhere, Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku scored the only goal as his side beat Union Berlin 1-0 at home.

© 2024 AFP