LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) – Bayer Leverkusen’s 35-game unbeaten Bundesliga run ended on Saturday when visiting RB Leipzig came from two goals down to snatch a 3-2 win helped by a Lois Openda double.
Champions Leverkusen dominated from the start and Jeremie Frimpong opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a low strike from close range before Alejandro Grimaldo doubled the lead just before the break.
Leipzig pulled a goal back through midfielder Kevin Kampl deep in first-half stoppage time, however, and Openda levelled in the 57th minute before he fired home an unstoppable shot from distance which gave Leverkusen keeper Matej Kovar no chance.
The game was halted for a late penalty check for Leverkusen but the referee decided Castello Lukeba’s challenge on Patrik Schick did not merit a spot-kick after consulting with VAR.
Leipzig are the first team to beat Leverkusen in the Bundesliga for 462 days, since VfL Bochum did so 3-0 on the last day of the 2022-23 season.
Xabi Alonso’s side were one result away from matching Hamburg’s tally of 36 games unbeaten in the 1982-83 season.
It is the second-longest run in history after Bayern Munich’s record 53 under Pep Guardiola from 2012 to 2014.
Leipzig moved to the top of the table on six points with Leverkusen in ninth on three.
Frimpong netted the opener after Jonathan Tah sent in a long ball and the defender squeezed the ball into the net inside the near post.
Grimaldo struck with his first touch and Victor Boniface missed an excellent chance to make it 3-0 following a corner in first-half stoppage time.
But Leipzig gained confidence after Kampl scored with a diving header and Openda equalised before the hour mark from a long Benjamin Sesko pass and he nutmegged Tapsoba to find the net again in the 80th minute.
Leipzig, who beat Bochum 1-0 at home in their season opener, extended their unbeaten run to 13 games stretching back to February.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)
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