13th matchday
Leipzig struggled to reach fourth place – Stuttgart still third
With the win against Heidenheim, Leipzig is overtaking BVB for the time being. photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
The champions have a Saturday without a game due to the snow chaos. RB Leipzig can score three points from their pursuers. Wolfsburg loses away again. Stuttgart remains in the top group.
After two recent competitive defeats RB Leipzig has returned to fourth place in the Bundesliga.
Coach Marco Rose’s team won with some difficulty against newcomers 1. FC Heidenheim 2:1 (2:1) and at least temporarily overtook runner-up Borussia Dortmund, who only play the top game against league leaders Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.
Thanks to goals from his striker duo Deniz Undav (17th minute) and Serhou Guirassy (75th) from the penalty spot, VfB Stuttgart won 2-0 (1-0) against SV Werder Bremen in the evening game and consolidated third place.
Bochum, Mönchengladbach and Leipzig victorious
VfL Wolfsburg suffered their sixth away defeat in a row with 1:3 (1:2) at VfL Bochum. Borussia Mönchengladbach finished 2-1 (0-0) against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, who lost away for the first time. FC Bayern Munich’s home game against Union Berlin was canceled due to heavy snowfall.
In Leipzig, Lois Openda scored his tenth goal of the season with a penalty kick (29th) and Yussuf Poulsen (44th) secured victory for the Leipzig team, who recently came close twice in the league against VfL Wolfsburg (1:2) and in the premier class against Manchester City (2:3) had lost. The Heidenheim goal by Benedikt Gimber was not enough for the promoted team (45th).
Two days after his contract extension until 2026, Bochum coach Thomas Letsch celebrated the first home win of the season. Patrick Osterhage (19th), Bernardo (39th) and Christopher Antwi-Adjej (87th) scored for Westphalia, while only Mattias Svanberg was able to shorten the score for Wolfsburg (45th).
In Mönchengladbach, Alassane Plea converted a penalty kick (58′) and Nathan Ngoumou (80′) let the hosts celebrate, while only Wout Weghorst (60′) was able to shorten the score for Hoffenheim. The Kraichgauers, who were in sixth place and had previously scored 16 out of 18 possible points away, came away empty-handed.
Weather chaos in Munich
Meanwhile, the weather chaos put a damper on FC Bayern’s plans. Extreme snowfall led to the cancellation of the game against Union Berlin. Above all, safety concerns due to roof avalanches in the Allianz Arena and the tense traffic situation prevented the event from taking place. An alternative date is not fixed yet.
This puts Union Berlin in last place in the table for the time being, as 1. FC Köln left the relegation places with a 1-0 win at newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 on Friday.