Leipzig and Frankfurt win to push Bayern down to fifth

BERLIN: Defending champions Bayern Munich dropped down to fifth in the Bundesliga as both Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt leapfrogged them with wins.

After Bayern lost 3-2 on Saturday at league leaders Borussia Dortmund, who are now seven points ahead of Bayern, Leipzig’s 3-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-0 win against Schalke on Sunday pushed the Bavarians further down the table.

“All in all that was a really good performance from us,” said Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick, whose team are third.

“If we keep playing like that, it won’t be easy to score goals against us, especially when we are in a position to score a few of our own.”

“The team carried on from where they left off in the last league and cup games,” Rangnick added after last week’s 3-0 thrashing of Hertha Berlin away and the 2-0 German Cup win at home to Hoffenheim.

Denmark forward Yussuf Poulsen shone in the Leipzig win, scoring twice and playing a part in the second with a deft pass.

Leipzig took the lead when Poulsen opened the scoring by poking the ball over Leverkusen’s goalkeeper on 27 minutes.

Poulsen was also involved in the second goal, flicking a throw-in on to Marcel Sabitzer, who played Lukas Klostermann into the area for the central midfielder to fire home on 68 minutes.

Leipzig punished a terrible pass by Leverkusen’s second-half substitute Dominik Kohr, quickly moving the ball to Poulsen who slotted home five minutes from time.

The defeat leaves Leverkusen just two points from the bottom three and increases the pressure on head coach Heiko Herrlich.

“Leipzig deserved it, we didn’t manage to get any structure in our game,” said Herrlich, who is in danger of being sacked after 17 months in charge.

“All three goals came directly after throw-ins, which is very annoying.”