Second-bottom Arminia Bielefeld – with coronavirus absences and down to 10 men – stunned RB Leipzig 2-0 away in the Bundesliga on Saturday to inflict a first defeat on coach Domenico Tedesco.
Borussia Moenchengladbach looked set to snap a four-game losing streak with a win but fourth-placed hosts Hoffenheim levelled in stoppage time for a 1-1 draw, said dpa.
Eintracht Frankfurt went fifth with a 1-0 home win over Mainz, Union Berlin prevailed 1-0 at Bochum and bottom side Greuther Fuerth drew 0-0 with Augsburg.
Bayern Munich, who had already made sure of being top at the halfway point of the season, beat Wolfsburg 4-0 at home on Friday with Robert Lewandowski setting a record of 43 Bundesliga goals in a calendar year.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund visit Hertha Berlin in Saturday’s late game. Freiburg host Bayer Leverkusen in third on Sunday with Cologne against Stuttgart then wrapping up the German top-flight matches for this year.
The Bundesliga resumes from its traditional mid-season break on the weekend beginning January 7. The break may help prevent Covid-19 infection chains at clubs.
Bielefeld were missing Stefan Ortega and Manuel Prietl due to Covid-19 and had a goal disallowed for offside in Leipzig just before the interval.
But they overcame their troubles for a third win of the campaign and a second in a row.
Patrick Wimmer’s effort was parried by Peter Gulacsi and Janni Serra scored his first Bundesliga goal – before immediately being substituted.
His replacement Fabian Klos was soon dismissed for a studs-up tackle after video review but even that setback could not stop the visitors, Masaya Okugawa making it 2-0 after a big error from Amadou Haidara.
The insipid performance in an empty stadium due to coronavirus was a blow for new Leipzig coach Tedesco, who has won one, drawn one and now lost one so far.
It is the worst first half of the season for ninth-placed Leipzig – runners-up last term – in their six-year Bundesliga history.
Gladbach had conceded 17 goals in four defeats to pile the pressure on coach Adi Huetter but they had seemed set to end the year on a high.
Source: Bahrain News Agency