BUNDESLIGA
Bayern down 10-man Leipzig to top Bundesliga
James Rodriguez and Robert Lewandowski scored as Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga table on Saturday with a 2-0 home win against RB Leipzig, who played most of the game with 10 men.
Bayern Munich have secured a second victory against RB Leipzig in four days after they won on penalties in Leipzig in midweek in the German Cup. James Rodriguez and Robert Lewandowski scored as Bayern went top of the Bundesliga table on Saturday with a 2-0 home win against RB, who played most of the game with 10 men.
Leipzig had Naby Keita sent off in the second half of Wednesday's cup defeat and another red card handicapped them at the Allianz Arena on Saturday when captain Willi Orban was sent off with 13 minutes gone. Orban was shown a straight red for fouling Arjen Robben, who was through on goal, before James and Lewandowski netted for the hosts.
The visitors were reduced to nine men for the final five minutes when Keita limped off after they had already made their three substitutions."We started well, but in the second half we played really badly with a man extra. We have to talk about that, because it's not on," said Bayern defender Jerome Boateng.
Lewandowski had to be substituided because an injury
A fine evening for Bayern was slightly marred by a thigh injury to Lewandowski that forced him off before half-time and which could compromise his chances of playing in Tuesday's Champions League match at Celtic. "I hope the injury isn't so grave because he came off early," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.
Bundesliga matchday
The victory took Bayern top of the Bundesliga for the first time this season, three points ahead of Borussia Dortmund who earlier crashed 4-2 at Hanover 96. Leipzig remain third, four points behind the leaders. Earlier, Dortmund had teenage defender Dan-Axel Zagadou sent off in their shock defeat at Hanover, which leaves them winless in three Bundesliga games. Togo striker Ihlas Bebou scored twice for Hanover as Dortmund were picked off on the counter-attack.
Hoffenheim missed the chance to go fourth by crashing to a 3-1 defeat at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach. Kerem Demirbay gave the hosts a first-half lead, but Gladbach scored unanswered goals in the last half hour by Thorgan Hazard, Matthias Ginter and Jannik Vestergaard. Hertha Berlin enjoyed their first win in eight games with a 2-1 home victory against Hamburg, who remain in the bottom three. Defenders Niklas Stark and Karim Rekik netted for Hertha before 17-year-old striker Jann-Fiete Arp came off the bench to score Hamburg's late consolation.
Cologne remain bottom after losing the Rhine derby 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen as Sehrou Guirassy's early strike was cancelled out by goals from winger Leon Bailey and defender Sven Bender. A 93rd-minute equaliser by on-loan Liverpool striker Divock Origi earned Wolfsburg a 1-1 draw at Schalke after Nabil Bentaleb had converted a first-half penalty for the Royal Blues. Mario Gomez missed a penalty for Wolfsburg.