Last-gasp winner caps Leipzig fightback
BERLIN: A last-gasp Alexander Sorloth goal sealed RB Leipzig’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday and kept them in the thick of the Bundesliga title race.
Leipzig fought back with secondhalf goals by Christopher Nkunku and Yussuf Poulsen before Sorloth’s winning header in the 93rd minute after Gladbach had led 2-0 at half-time.
“We’ll try everything to keep the Bundesliga exciting,” said Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann. “We have to keep the momentum. It was an extremely important victory in terms of the table.”
The victory keeps second-placed Leipzig two points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who earlier romped to a 5-1 home win over Cologne.
Gladbach were in complete control at half-time after Jonas Hofmann netted an early penalty and Marcus Thuram used his shoulder to guide the ball into the net from a Breel Embolo header.
However, Sorloth came off the bench and inspired the second-half fight back.
The former Crystal Palace striker had a goal disallowed for handball before setting up Nkunku, who fired home Leipzig’s first goal on 57 minutes.
Poulsen smashed home the equaliser on 66 minutes.
Leipzig had all the momentum and peppered the Gladbach goal before Sorloth’s winning header deep into added time.
Earlier, Bayern bounced back after taking just a point in their previous two league games as midfielder Leon Goretzka created three goals in their rout of Cologne.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting headed Bayern into an early lead before Robert Lewandowski, the league’s top scorer, struck twice to increase his league tally to 28 goals this season.
Serge Gnabry came off the bench to claim two late goals behind closed doors at the Allianz Arena on his first appearance since tearing a thigh muscle in Bayern’s Club World Cup final win in Qatar.