Jamaica winger Leon Bailey on Sunday scored twice as Bayer 04 Leverkusen knocked Bayern Munich off the top of the Bundesliga with a 4-1 win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, while bottom side Schalke 04’s winless run stretched to 27 games in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Augsburg.
Bailey opened the scoring with a scintillating strike early against Hoffenheim as in-form Leverkusen picked up their seventh win of the season to leapfrog champions Bayern into top spot.
“The table is only a snapshot, but it’s an important one because we know how tough this league can be,” midfielder Julian Baumgartlinger said after Leverkusen went top for the first time in six years.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Hoffenheim’s Florian Grillitsch brushed the bar with a header after just 14 seconds, but it was Leverkusen who landed the first blow on four minutes.
Playing a quick one-two with Nadiem Amiri from a Leverkusen corner, Bailey curled the ball brilliantly into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.
A misjudged pass from Andrej Kramaric allowed Bailey to double the lead just before the half-hour mark, rounding stranded goalkeeper Oliver Baumann and slotting the ball into the open goal.
Baumann kept his side in the game with a flying save to deny Florian Wirtz just before halftime and Christoph Baumgartner pulled a goal back with a brilliant long-range strike after the break.
Yet Hoffenheim’s joy was short-lived, as Wirtz danced through the penalty area and beat Baumann with a dainty chip on 55 minutes.
The visitors’ fate was sealed when both Grillitsch and Stefan Posch were sent off for second yellow cards within 15 minutes, before Lucas Alario added a fourth for Leverkusen with a stoppage-time penalty.
Earlier on Sunday, Schalke’s hopes of a first win in 27 games were dashed by Marco Richter’s stoppage-time equalizer in a 2-2 draw overshadowed by a serious injury to Mark Uth.
Richter’s late header crowned a heartbreaking evening for Schalke, who remain on course to equal SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin’s notorious, 54-year-old Bundesliga record of 31 games without a win.
Schalke’s misery was compounded by concerns for Uth, who was stretchered from the pitch unconscious after a clash of heads with Augsburg defender Felix Uduokhai in the 10th minute.
The striker was treated for about 15 minutes before being carried from the pitch attached to a drip and wearing a neck brace.
Schalke later confirmed that the 29-year-old was “stable and responsive,” and on his way to hospital, but both sets of players were left visibly shocked by the incident.
“I didn’t realize how serious it was at first, but then I saw him lying on the floor. A lot of things go through your head, I was scared and worried. I am so happy that he is OK,” Uduokhai told Sky.
After the game resumed, Augsburg took the lead from a corner in the 32nd minute, Suat Serdar accidentally heading the ball into his own net.
Benito Raman leveled with a delicate chip over goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz on 52 minutes, before a second yellow card for Florian Niederlechner dealt another blow to Augsburg moments later.
Serdar then redeemed himself as he fired a low cross toward Nassim Boujellab, who smashed the ball past Gikiewicz to give Schalke the lead.
Yet Richter dashed hopes of a first league win since Jan. 17 when he flicked a Michael Gregoritsch cross past Ralf Faehrmann two minutes from time to save a point for 10-man Augsburg.
The draw leaves Schalke bottom of the league, with just four points from 11 games.
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