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Leipzig beat Bayer Leverkusen to go atop in German Bundesliga

Xinhua, November 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Leipzig came from behind to edge Leverkusen 3-2 thanks to Willi Orban' s winner on the road at the opener of the 11th round in Bundesliga on Friday.

Bundesliga newcomers Leipzig move atop the standings as Bayer Leverkusen gave away their lead twice allowing the visitors to grab a 3-2 comeback win.

The hosts grabbed a fairy tale start on home soil as Kevin Kampl broke the deadlock with only two minutes into the game after poking home Julian Brandt' s square pass at the far post.

Leipzig needed less than two minutes to respond as Leverkusen' s Julian Baumgartlinger deflected Emil Forsberg' s cross into the wrong goal to restore the parity for the visitors in the 4th minute.

However, the hosts took the 2-1 lead into the half time after Hakan Calhanoglu' s pass into path allowed Julian Brandt to beat Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi from inside the box in the 45th minute.

After the restart, Bayer Leverkusen should have added another goal to their lead but Calhanoglu were unable to overcome Leipzig custodian Gulacsi with a foul play penalty in the 54th minute.

Newly promoted Leipzig punished Leverkusen' s wastefulness in the 66th minute when Forsberg had all time and space to shock goalkeeper Bernd Leno with a long range effort to make it two all draw.

Things went from bad to worse for the "Werkself" as Forsberg' s cross to the far post found Willi Orban, who headed past Leno to complete the 3-2 comeback win in the 81st minute.

With the result, Leipzig becomes the best newly promoted team after reaping the eleventh straight game without a loss at the start of a campaign in Germany' s top flight.

The "Bulls" moved on the first place and edged German record champions Bayern Munich for the moment, meanwhile Bayer Leverkusen stay on the 8th place of the standings.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: Monchengladbach host Cologne, Mainz face Freiburg, Wolfsburg see Schalke, Augsburg meet Hertha Berlin, Darmstadt encounter Ingolstadt and Dortmund take on title holders Bayern Munich. Endit