Five-star Leipzig thrash Hoffenheim in statement win to move into top four

[p]Defeat to fellow UEFA Champions League hopefuls Stuttgart last week dealt a big blow to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rb-leipzig/KbS1suSm/"]Leipzig[/a]’s own qualification hopes, but after surviving a strong [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hoffenheim/hQAtP9Sl/"]Hoffenheim[/a] start here, they set about repairing the damage.[/p][p]While he may have been nursing an apparent shoulder injury, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diomande-yan/0p2ORrJi/"]Yan Diomande[/a] demanded constant attention down the left, and that created space for others, which Die Roten Bullen made the most of to open the scoring.[/p][p][b]Diomande found [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/seiwald-nicolas/fivkoAh0/"]Nicolas Seiwald[/a], who in turn fed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/romulo-cardoso/MqtfWqDL/"]Romulo Cardoso[/a] to shoot, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baumann-oliver/MZ6BATVO/"]Oliver Baumann[/a]’s save was weak, leaving [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gruda-brajan/4EjPxBOf/"]Brajan Gruda[/a] to tap into an empty net on the rebound.[/b][/p][p]It was a goal that came against the run of play, and far from guaranteed a positive outcome for the hosts who’ve lost four Bundesliga games in which they led this term.[/p][p]Ole Werner’s men needed just four minutes to alleviate fears of that happening again here, as they doubled their lead through Hoffenheim old boy [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baumgartner-christoph/rqcu4a9O/"]Christoph Baumgartner[/a].[/p][p][b]He arrived at pace to head home [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raum-david/2XVqEh8k/"]David Raum[/a]’s cross, with that his first-ever goal involvement against Die Kraichgauer after five prior blanks. [/b][/p][p][b]On the half-hour, the Leipzig talisman doubled his tally in glorious fashion, taking Gruda’s cross in stride with a wonderful touch before acrobatically finishing below Baumann before letting the ball bounce.[/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="430f8ae8-eabe-40ef-83e1-4ddd79cd8569" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="81065426-7714-4e36-9bc1-122619dc2d88" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][b]Leipzig even made it four before the break, with the influential Diomande weaving his magic down the left, playing a neat one-two with Seiwald before squaring for Gruda to slot home at the far post. [/b][/p][p]Diomande had the ball in the net himself before half-time, but VAR intervened to rule out that strike and spare the visitors’ blushes, though the damage had well and truly been done.[/p][p]Christian Ilzer’s men at least successfully stemmed the tide after the restart, but aside from a relatively tame [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/promel-grischa/GOTDkA9I/"]Grischa Promel[/a] effort, they offered little threat of their own. Leipzig looked likelier to get the contest’s next goal, though Baumgartner fired wide as he chased a hat-trick before Romulo struck the outside of the post.[/p][p][b]A perfect evening for Leipzig was rounded off by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henrichs-benjamin/xEK5LMdo/"]Benjamin Henrichs[/a], who recently returned from a long-term Achilles injury, netting his first goal since August 2023.[/b][/p][embed guid="34c86550-1994-44a5-98b6-889523c1daa6" url="https://x.com/RBLeipzig_EN/status/2035107236758933955" social-type="twitter" /][p]That completed a resounding victory which extends Leipzig’s unbeaten record in Friday-held Bundesliga home games to 10 matches and serves as just a second league win of the season against sides who currently join them in the top-five.[/p][p]Hoffenheim will be bruised as they failed to secure a first league double over Leipzig since 2017/18, though, as this was just their second defeat in seven away games, they’ll hope it’s just a blip they can recover from after the international break.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gruda-brajan/4EjPxBOf/"]Brajan Gruda[/a] (RB Leipzig)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="e51edc03-f551-4710-861c-18f3ca98fe50" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="0bd1b2a7-0291-47ba-8c0f-7ca8b221fcf3" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/hoffenheim-hQAtP9Sl/rb-leipzig-KbS1suSm/summary/stats/?mid=SrS8qyAO"]Catch up on the stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]