Leipzig down Hoffenheim in Lőw’s Bundesliga debut

Leipzig’s Champions League hopes are back on track after a 3-1 win in Zsolt Lőw’s Bundesliga debut.

Zsolt Lőw’s two changes from his midweek Leipzig debut have seen his compatriot Péter Gulácsi and Castello Lukeba back in the starting lineup. Meanwhile, Christian Ilzer, who beat Leipzig 4-3 on his debut, replaced his starting fullbacks from the Augsburg draw with Stanley Nsoki and Valentin Gendrey. Haris Tabaković takes Gift Orban’s place up front.

However, it’s the 19-year-old winger Bazoumana Touré who called Gulácsi to action as early as the second minute before he picked up a yellow card a couple of minutes later. It took the hosts 10 minutes to create a first chance, but that was quickly followed by the opening goal for Hoffenheim.

Touré was once again in the thick of it as he benefited from a poor Gulácsi clearance. The Ivorian laid it off to Tom Bischof, who blasted it home from 30 yards out. The guests continued on their promising start, but Leipzig leveled the score from their first shot on target.

German international Oliver Baumann was unable to save Benjamin Šeško’s powerful header from a David Raum corner-kick. Moments later, another key moment in the game goes in Leipzig’s favor as Leo Østigård sees a straight red card for a professional foul on Loïs Openda.

Hoffenheim coped well with ten men until Ridle Baku’s first Leipzig goal further shifted the momentum two minutes before the half-time break. A total of three substitutions take place at the start of the second-half.

Despite the two goals conceded, Ilzer opted to fill the void left by Østigård’s sending off by introducing Kevin Akpoguma. Meanwhile, Christoph Baumgartner is among the two substitutes for Leipzig, while Baku’s game was over after his crucial goal.

As expected, Leipzig dominated the second-half, but they were fortunate when Lukeba’s own-goal was flagged offside at the hour mark. Ten minutes later, Gulácsi made a double save to deny Gendrey and Bischof.

That proved decisive when Yussuf Poulsen extended Leipzig’s lead in the 84th minute. The Denmark international netted his first Bundesliga goal of the season from Tidiam Gomis’ assist. Poulsen nearly doubled his tally in the last action of the game.

Leipzig momentarily climbed to fifth after a win in their 300th Bundesliga fixture. Hoffenheim would be dropped to 15th if St. Pauli beat Gladbach in Sunday’s earlier fixture. If Gerardo Seoane’s team continue on their good run, Leipzig will be back in sixth.