Leipzig beat Bochum to keep Bundesliga top-four hopes alive
An imperious home campaign so far came to a head for Bochum with a remarkable 3-2 win over Bayern here two weeks ago, and they carried right on from that in the midst of a frenzied first 10 minutes. Xavi Simons couldn’t beat veteran stopper Andreas Luthe on his first appearance for Der Blau in eight years, and that miss was thoroughly punished just moments later.
Maximilian Wittek was the recipient of a free-kick from a distance, and his powerful, swerving strike proved too hot to handle for Peter Gulacsi, who perhaps lost ground in his battle for Leipzig’s permanent number-one spot as he could only palm it into the net.
Maybe sensing Gulacsi’s frailty, both Kevin Stoger and Anthony Losilla soon saw attempts fly wide as they tried their luck from distance before Xavi was denied the equaliser after he was ruled offside having squeezed his shot inside the near post.
That turned out to be a warning that Bochum didn’t heed, not that they could have done much to stop Dani Olmo cutting inside and whipping into the top corner from outside the area - the injury-plagued Spaniard’s first league goal since last August.
It looked as though Bochum were growing into the game - almost taking the lead through Bernardo - but substitutions from Leipzig led to a stunning treble in the space of just a few second-half minutes.
Amadou Haidara slipped through Lois Openda, and Luthe couldn’t push the shot away as the Belgian found the net with his first touch since his introduction.
Yussuf Poulsen - the other striker brought on by Marco Rose - emphatically made his mark with a goal and assist just a couple of minutes later, first sending Xavi away to find the net via Ivan Ordets’ lunging foot, before tapping in one of his own as the roles reversed.
The shellshock from that horror spell set in for Bochum and things were made even worse when Moritz Kwarteng became their first player sent off this season after lashing out at Openda.
A ninth win in just 11 historical meetings between these sides is the perfect springboard for Leipzig to try to overturn a deficit at Real Madrid in the week, while Bochum still have a nine-point cushion to the bottom two despite possessing the second-worst defensive record in the division.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Amadou Haidara (Leipzig)
Other afternoon results in the Bundesliga:
