Leipizig fail to gain ground with draw at Schalke

RB Leipzig were unable to take advantage of FC Bayern’s slip-up on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Schalke 04 in Matchday 30’s final game.

FC Bayern Munich’s draw at home to Mainz had opened an unlikely door for Leipzig to put a touch more pressure on the league leaders.

Knowing that a win would take them six points behind the men from Munich, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side duly began with their customary aggression, overwhelming the home side in the early stages.

Emil Forsberg flashed a freekick over the bar, before Timo Werner expertly glanced a Yussuf Poulsen cross into the far corner for the opening goal. Crippled by nerves and misplaced passes, Schalke could not establish any kind of rhythm and could have fallen two behind had Forsberg done better with another good chance inside the box.

Schalke had created very little of note going forward in the first half, but they responded by making a flying start to the second period, veteran striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar stooping low to head in an equaliser within a minute of the restart. Leipzig were knocked out of their stride by the goal, although Schalke needed a brilliant goalline clearance from Holger Badstuber to prevent the visitors re-taking the lead.

As the game progressed, however, the goalmouth action at either end dried up, resulting in Werner and Forsberg being withdrawn after very quiet second-half displays. Neither side were able to muster much of an effort to go for a winner, and a draw was about the fair result.

Werner stood out favourably for the away side for his superbly-taken goal and excellent first-half performance, although he faded in the second period.

Freiburg strengthened their claim for European football next season while all but ending Bayer Leverkusen's hopes of catching the top six with a 21 win at the Schwarzwald-Stadion.

Freiburg lost their top-six berth on Saturday but they made it crystal clear they wanted it back, taking the lead just ten minutes in with Petersen's earliest ever Bundesliga goal, fired to perfection beyond Bernd Leno's reach. Petersen could have made it two soon after while Onur Bulut also went close for an efficient and effective home side, faced with a Leverkusen outfit who had plenty of the ball, but lacked ideas and incision.

Freiburg were the exact opposite, looking lethal each time they won back possession. They could have extended their lead following a promising counterattack early in the second half, only for Aleksandr Dragovic to save the visitors. Leverkusen were thus still in the game and a penalty allowed them to level through Kevin Volland on the hour mark.

Freiburg regrouped, regathered their strength and hit back defiantly and Pascal Stenzel sent the Schwarzwald-Stadion wild with a stunning late winner for Christian Streich's men.

Florian Niederlechner did not manage to get his name on the scoresheet, but he came close by hitting the crossbar before Petersen scored.

Following Leverkusen's equaliser, he was the man who lifted his team-mates and led by example. Freiburg-B. Leverkusen .................... 2-1 Schalke 04-RB Leipzig ....................... 1-1

Standings

P W D L F A Pts B. Munich 30 21 7 2 73 17 70 RB Leipzig 30 19 5 6 56 31 62 Dortmund 30 16 8 6 65 35 56 Hoffenheim 30 14 13 3 57 32 55 Hertha Berlin 30 14 4 12 38 35 46 SC Freiburg 30 13 5 12 38 52 44 W. Bremen 30 12 6 12 50 51 42 FC Koln 30 10 11 9 43 37 41 E. Frankfurt 30 11 8 11 32 34 41 B. M’bach 30 11 6 13 39 44 39 Schalke 30 10 8 12 39 35 38 B. Leverkusen 30 10 6 14 43 46 36 Mainz 05 30 9 6 15 39 49 33 Wolfsburg 30 9 6 15 30 43 33 Hamburger 30 9 6 15 30 55 33 FC Augsburg 30 8 8 14 29 49 32 Ingolstadt 30 8 4 18 33 54 28 Darmstadt 30 6 3 21 23 58 21