RB Leipzig came from behind to beat Freiburg 3-1 at home on Saturday to leapfrog Bayern Munich and go top of the Bundesliga, while Borussia Dortmund’s away woes continued with another defeat.
Freiburg, impressive this season under new coach Julian Schuster, scored first when Japan winger Ritsu Doan was in the perfect place to head in a Vincenzo Grifo cross.
Leipzig, which looked heavy-legged after a 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday, was a goal down at half-time but equalised shortly after.
Germany defender Benjamin Henrichs, who was at fault for Freiburg’s opener, cut a dangerous cross goalwards for captain Willi Orban to divert into the net.
Lutsharel Geertruida put Leipzig in front after 58 minutes when he finished off a lightning-fast counterattack for his first Bundesliga goal.
Lois Openda put the home side in full control with 11 minutes remaining, again on the break -- his fifth goal in eight games this season.
Leipzig is now three points clear of Bayern, which plays at last-placed Bochum on Sunday.
Just days after letting a 2-0 lead slip to lose 5-2 at Real Madrid, Dortmund’s poor week continued with a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg despite going ahead early.
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As he did against Real, Dortmund winger Donyell Malen gave his side the lead, blasting an excellent Serhou Guirassy assist into the net after four minutes.
Augsburg was level after 25 minutes, however, with Alexis Claude-Maurice taking advantage of some lazy defending to waltz through the centre of the park and hit a low shot into the corner.
Claude-Maurice scored five minutes into the second half, this time capitalising on an Emre Can error to slide the ball into the right-hand corner.
The loss leaves Dortmund seven points off the top spot after just eight matches, and last season’s Champions League finalist has not won away from home in the league since April.
Elsewhere, Stuttgart won 2-1 at home against promoted Holstein Kiel.
Captain Deniz Undav opened the scoring 19 minutes in, and El Bilal Toure, who scored a stoppage-time winner against Juventus midweek, added a stunner in the second half.
Jeff Chabot’s second yellow meant Stuttgart was reduced to 10 men, and Armin Gigovic cut the lead with six minutes remaining, but Kiel, who lost Jann-Fiete Arp to a second yellow late, could not cut the gap further.
In Hamburg, the promoted St Pauli picked up a valuable point in a scoreless draw at home against Wolfsburg.
Later on Saturday, defending champion Bayer Leverkusen plays away at Werder Bremen.
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