LEIPZIG, Germany: RB Leipzig came from behind to beat Freiburg 3-1 at home on Saturday to leapfrog Bayern Munich and go top of the Bundesliga, while Borussia Dortmund’s away woes continued with another defeat.
Freiburg, impressive this season under new coach Julian Schuster, scored first when Japan winger Ritsu Doan was in the perfect place to head in a Vincenzo Grifo cross.
Leipzig, who looked heavy-legged after a 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday, were a goal down at half-time but equalized shortly after.
Germany defender Benjamin Henrichs, who was at fault for Freiburg’s opener, cut a dangerous cross goalwards for captain Willi Orban to divert into the net.
Lutsharel Geertruida put Leipzig in front after 58 minutes when he finished off a lightning-fast counter attack for his first Bundesliga goal.
Lois Openda put the home side in full control with 11 minutes remaining, again on the break — his fifth goal in eight games this season.
Leipzig are now three points clear of Bayern, who play at last-placed Bochum on Sunday.
Just days after letting a 2-0 lead slip to lose 5-2 at Real Madrid, Dortmund’s poor week continued with a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg despite going ahead early.
As he did against Real, Dortmund winger Donyell Malen gave his side the lead, blasting an excellent Serhou Guirassy assist into the net after four minutes.
Augsburg were level after 25 minutes however, Alexis Claude-Maurice taking advantage of some lazy defending to waltz through the center of the park and hit a low shot into the corner.
Claude-Maurice scored five minutes into the second half, this time capitalizing on an Emre Can error to slide the ball into the right-hand corner.
The loss leaves Dortmund seven points off top spot after just eight matches and last season’s Champions League finalists have not won away from home in the league since April.
Elsewhere, Stuttgart won 2-1 at home against promoted Holstein Kiel.
Captain Deniz Undav opened the scoring 19 minutes in and El Bilal Toure, who scored a stoppage-time winner against Juventus midweek, added a stunner in the second half.
Jeff Chabot’s second yellow meant Stuttgart were reduced to 10 men and Armin Gigovic cut the lead with six minutes remaining but Kiel, who lost Jann-Fiete Arp to a second yellow late, could not cut the gap further.
In Hamburg, promoted St. Pauli picked up a valuable point in a scoreless draw at home against Wolfsburg.
Later on Saturday, defending champions Bayer Leverkusen play away at Werder Bremen.
Leipzig beat Freiburg to go top, Dortmund lose away again
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Leipzig beat Freiburg to go top, Dortmund lose away again
- Leipzig, who looked heavy-legged after a 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday, were a goal down at half-time but equalized shortly after
- Just days after letting a 2-0 lead slip to lose 5-2 at Real Madrid, Dortmund’s poor week continued with a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg despite going ahead early
Stokes calls on England to ‘show a bit of dog’ in must-win Adelaide Test
ADELAIDE: Ben Stokes has called on England to “show a bit of dog” in the must-win third Ashes Test against Australia on Wednesday after “raw” conversations following heavy defeats in Perth and Brisbane.
The tourists have crashed to consecutive eight-wicket losses and must snap a 17-match winless streak in Australia at Adelaide Oval to keep the five-match series alive.
They have made just one change with Josh Tongue replacing fellow quick Gus Atkinson, while off-spinning allrounder Will Jacks kept his place ahead of Shoaib Bashir.
England skipper Stokes said after the Gabba defeat that Australia was “no place for weak men” and admitted to “raw” dressing room conversations in the aftermath.
“We don’t do getting into rooms and have big things up on the screen. We have proper, meaningful conversations. What’s been said has been said,” he told English media.
“I’ve done all the talking over the last two days that I needed to. All that stuff’s done now, so it’s about what gets seen out on the field in Adelaide this week.”
Stokes was called “the most competitive person I’ve ever come across” by former England captain Alastair Cook last week and the 34-year-old allrounder demanded more fight from his team.
“It’s just about trying to fight in every situation that you find yourself in, understanding the situation and what you feel is required for your team,” said Stokes.
“Just look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That’s fight to me. You’re giving yourself the best possible chance if you’ve got a bit of dog in you.”
He cited England’s battling third Test win against India at Lord’s in July as an example of the grit he wanted to see in Adelaide, with the hosts winning by 22 runs deep into day five after a time-wasting row.
“That’s exactly what I’m on about,” he said.
“We were probably in a situation where we would have to be absolutely perfect to win that game and we were.
“The attitude and the mentality toward that specific situation is what gave us the best chance of winning that game.”
Since arriving in Australia, England have been under intense media scrutiny and faced hostile crowds at Perth and Brisbane.
Just five of the players used so far had previously played an Ashes series in Australia and Stokes acknowledged it had been confronting for the newcomers.
“Honestly, I think so,” he said. “Now I feel everyone has experienced that and probably at its highest level, so we all know what it’s going to be like.
“So for the next three games there isn’t going to be any of that ‘I didn’t expect this’ or ‘it’s the first time I’ve had this’.”
