RB Leipzig continued their excellent form at the Opel Arena with a 2-1 victory to beat Julian Nagelsmann's TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, as the away side's unbeaten run in the league came to an end at the hands of Ralph Hassenhüttl's young Leipzig side.
Hoffenheim got off to the better start and it was their perfect counter attack which led to the opener being scored by Nadiem Amiri who was setup unselfishly by Andrej Kramarić. Leipzig didn't lose heart and made it 1-1 when Timo Werner took advantage of some poor defending from the away side.
The winner came late in the game for the home side when Marcel Sabitzer's long range effort took a huge deflection off the substitute Fabian Schar's leg to deceive goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to make it 2-1 and give the home side the victory which made sure they remained unbeaten in the league and ended Hoffenheim's excellent record of being unbeaten so far this season.
Hoffenheim produce more with lesser possession
The game started off with Leipzig on the front foot, putting Hoffenheim under early pressure which led to a frantic period of play from both sides as Nagelsmann's side struggled to keep the ball under pressure from Leipzig's players.
The first big chance of the game fell to Naby Keita who was set up well by top scorer Werner, but the Leipzig midfield machine couldn't take advantage of the early chance presented to him. The rest of the half saw chances being created at both ends as both goalkeepers were tested with chances being created and for Leipzig, Keita and Werner were at the centre of all their attacks as Hoffenheim struggled to keep up with the pace of the game and cleared the ball as soon as it came close to their box.
Oliver Baumann had a big say in all of Leipzig's clear chances, the German thwarted every attempt that went his way and kept his side in the game as Hoffenheim looked to hit the home side on the counter whenever possible for them to do so. Hoffenheim's patience in defending finally paid off when they took the lead after a perfectly executed counter-attack resulted in Amiri tucking the ball into the back of the net after being set up unselfishly by striker Kramaric to make it 1-0 to the away side.
After conceding the opener, Leipzig immediately attacked on the break, and gained a corner in the process. There were shouts for a penalty as Poulsen went down from a challenge by Vogt, but the referee was not interested as the match carried on at its frantic pace. Just moments later, Hoffenehim raised calls for a penalty. Steven Zuber's cross hits the arm of Bernardo as Hoffenheim went close once again on the counter as Leipzig started getting a taste of their own medicine from Hoffenheim's well-timed counter-attacks.
After Kerem Demirbay made a brilliant pass early on to send Kramaric on his way there was another brilliant pass from midfield, this time by Amiri who send Zuber on his way but he failed to cut inside and Bernardo conceded the corner. The corner from Demirbay meets the head of Niklas Sule, saved by Peter Gulacsi, who immediately sets his team away on the counter in search of the equaliser.
Yussuf Poulsen missed another big chance for Leipzig after Sabitzer did ever so well to time his cross after being picked out by Keita, but Poulsen missed an absolute sitter under pressure from Sule. Leipzig put the away side under an immense amount of pressure as they created chance after chance to find their equaliser as Hoffenheim hanged on to their lead.
A few minutes later, the match atmosphere went hostile as Demirbay went down from a poor clearance by Bernardo and the Hoffenheim players were furious with Leipzig carrying on with play. In the heat of the moment, Poulsen booked for a push off the ball in the incident after he pushed Sebastian Rudy and the referee took notice of the incident.
The pressure from Leipzig soon paid off as Timo Werner scored his 11th goal of the season. The game came as a result of Hoffenheim failing to clear the ball as Keita and Werner chased the loose ball and Werner poked it into the back of Baumann's net and made it 1-1. Leipzigs possession finally paid off as they came back in the game.
Late in the first half, Vogt looked seriously hurt after clattering with the goalkeepr Baumann and tried to carry on with the game but was substituted for Schar in the second half.
Leipzig seal comeback in second half
Leipzig started the second half on the front foot once again as Hoffenheim sat back and looked to be organised in defence to prevent any further goals being conceded.
It was an end to end game with both teams refusing to allow any breathing space, Nagelsmann demanding more from his team in an offensive approach as they came under more and more pressure from Leipzig.
Moments later, the mood started to turn increasingly hostile as both sets of players clashed when Sandro Wagner took down Stefan Ilsanker with a heavy challenge and left the referee with no choice but to send him off and leave Hoffenheim with ten men to finish the game.
Hoffenheim looked to play on with ten men and Nagelsmann brought off Mark Uth in place of Kramaric to give some fresh legs in attack for his side.
Goalkeeper Baumann was kept busy for much of the second half and had to make some excellent saves to prevent Leipzig from taking the lead once again as Hassenhüttl's side were frustrated time and again by the excellent German international.
Leipzig's pressure finally paid off when Keita and Sabitzer combined and Sabitzer with some excellent footwork found the angle to take a long shot which then took a huge deflection off Schar to find its way into the back of the net to give the home side the lead.
The game stayed that way until the final whistle as Leipzig won their seventh consecutive game at home and remained unbeaten at the Red Bull arena, as for Nagelsmann and Hoffenheim, their wonderful unbeaten run came to an unfortunate end and their work is cut out for them until the next matchweek of the Bundesliga.