Berlin (Germany): Bayer Leverkusen staged a powerful performance and smoothed the win with two first-half goals, upsetting Leipzig 3-2 in the first round of the Bundesliga.
Both sides traded attacks from the starting whistle on Saturday night as Benjamin Henrichs’ unleashed a hammer to test Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky in the early stages before the Werkself opened the scoring through Jeremie Frimpong who benefitted on Victor Boniface’s cutback pass in the 24th minute.
Leverkusen gained momentum and doubled its advantage 11 minutes later when Jonas Hofmann’s pinpoint corner kick allowed Jonathan Tah to nod home the 2-0 lead from a central position.
Leipzig eventually halved the deficit out of the blue in the 39th minute after Dani Olmo headed home David Raum’s corner at the near post to stun Leverkusen before the break, reports Xinhua.
Leverkusen assumed control again after the restart as Hofmann passed into the path of Florian Wirtz, whose well-placed shot got defused by Janis Blaswich’s great reflex on the goal line.
Wirtz remained in the thick of things and restored Leverkusen’s two-goal lead at the hour mark after chipping the ball over goalkeeper Blaswich.
Leipzig’s resilience wasn’t broken as the visitors reduced the arrears again as Lois Openda’s Bundesliga maiden goal made it 3-2 on the scoreboards.
Leipzig nearly snatched a draw, but Openda couldn’t make the most of a loose ball from close range in the dying seconds of the match.
“We’re very happy with the result and the performance, especially in the first half. We played very well with, and against the ball, with high intensity and concentration. In the second half, it’s normal to suffer a bit against a team like Leipzig. Three points and that’s all for today, next Saturday it’s time again,” said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.
Elsewhere, Jonas Wind’s brace helped Wolfsburg to start with a win into the season after easing 2-0 past newly promoted Heidenheim.
Freiburg edged Hoffenheim 2-1 thanks to the own goal from Attila Szalai and a goal from Roland Sallai.
Borussia Monchengladbach gave away its lead and shared the spoils with Augsburg following an eight-goal thriller.
Stuttgart trashed Bochum 5-0 and Dortmund moved 1-0 past stubborn Cologne courtesy of Donyell Malen’s late winner.
–IANS
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