Die Roten Bullen were dealt a painful blow in the race for Champions League football on Saturday, with TSG Hoffenheim handing 10-man RB Leipzig a 5-2 defeat at the Red Bull Arena.
RBL made a promising start to matchday 31's clash, but a Mark Uth tap-in in the 14th minute to make it 1-0 after Péter Gulácsi was unable to hold on to a shot shifted the momentum in the visitors' favour. While Leipzig did muster a response, albeit without seriously testing Oliver Baumann, Hoffenheim were clinical with their chances and made it 3-0 before the break courtesy of Serge Gnabry and then Pavel Kaderabek.
The second 45 couldn't have started much worse for Die Roten Bullen, with Emil Forsberg shown a red card inside two minutes for lashing out at Florian Grillitsch after he had been fouled. Ironically, it was then that Leipzig got a foothold back in the game. Substitute Naby Keïta danced through the defence before unleashing a shot that unfortunately ricocheted back off the post, but luckily the ball hit the back of the diving Baumann and crossed the line to make it 3-1. That glimmer of hope lasted a mere 47 seconds, however, as TSG went up the other end from the kick-off and Uth headed in his second of the day. Lukas Rupp then added a Hoffenheim fifth in the 59th minute to compound Leipzig's misery. Dayot Upamecano's late tap-in after good work from Ademola Lookman was a positive not to end on, but it was a day to forget for RBL.
Match stats
Player facts
- Ralph Hasenhüttl made three changes to the side that drew in Bremen. Lukas Klostermann, Bruma and Ademola Lookman starting in place of Dominik Kaiser, Kevin Kampl and Yussuf Poulsen.
- Naby Keïta came on at half time after shaking off back problems and created Leipzig's first goal.
- Dayot Upamecano was introduced after 62 minutes after recovering from a thigh strain and netted his second goal of the season.
- Emil Forsberg was shown a straight red card in the 47th minute. The length of his suspension is not yet known.