LAST UPDATE | 23 Jan 2022
RB LEIPZIG DEFENDER Josko Gvardiol marked his 20th birthday with a late goal to seal a 2-0 home win over Wolfsburg, who have now gone nine Bundesliga games without a win.
But then league leaders Bayern Munich romped to a 4-1 victory at Hertha Berlin to restore the Bavarian giants’ six-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
Midfielder Corentin Tolisso grabbed his second goal in as many games before Bayern forward Thomas Mueller made it 2-0 by half-time at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Bayern doubled their tally with two goals in four devastating minutes as Leroy Sane pounced on a mistake by Hertha goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, then Serge Gnabry fired in Bayern’s fourth 11 minutes from time.
Jurgen Ekkelenkamp scored Hertha’s late consolation.
Happy to be back with a great win today !! +3 👌🏼🔴⚪️ #MiaSanMia @FCBayern pic.twitter.com/2bWJeQhBHC
— Lucas Hernández (@LucasHernandez) January 23, 2022
A third straight home defeat capped a miserable week for Hertha who were knocked out of the German Cup on Wednesday by a 3-2 derby loss to Union Berlin.
After Dortmund had trimmed Bayern’s lead in the table with a 3-2 win at Hoffenheim on Saturday, Bayern had few problems restoring their commanding lead in the table.
Tolisso backed up last weekend’s goal at Cologne with a superb diving header after a cross from fellow Frenchman Kingsley Coman.
Mueller then tapped in a Joshua Kimmich free kick when he ghosted behind the defence and rolled the ball past frustrated Hertha goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow.
The Berlin shot-stopper had kept his side in the game with 12 saves up until that point, but his luck deserted him when a pass out to Hertha defender Linus Gechter was intercepted by Sane who tucked the ball into an empty net.
Gnabry fired in the fourth.
Hertha restored some pride with a late consolation when replacement Jurgen Ekkelenkamp profited after a mistake by Bayern defender Dayot Upamencao, who had just come on, to score Berlin’s consolation.
Sane was only denied a superb second goal after VAR spotted he controlled the ball with his shoulder before unleashing a long-rang shot.
In Leipzig this afternoon, Croatia defender Gvardiol tapped in a late effort which was initially flagged offside before the VAR confirmed the goal after centre-back Willi Orban headed Leipzig into the lead 14 minutes from time.
Leipzig have now won their last four games in all competitions and are back up to sixth in the league table.
The latest away defeat ramps up the pressure on Wolfsburg head coach Florian Kohfeldt, who only replaced his sacked predecessor Mark van Bommel in late October.
Wolfsburg wasted a golden double chance just before half-time when Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi denied Belgian midfielder Aster Vranckx at close range, then Konrad Laimer just managed to block Yannick Gerhardt’s shot.
4️⃣ games, 4️⃣ wins
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) January 23, 2022
January '22 💯
🔴⚪ #WeAreLeipzig pic.twitter.com/WB7n1o5pYP
In a bid to force the opening goal, Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco made a triple substitution early in the second half by bringing on Tyler Adams, Lukas Klostermann and Dani Olmo.
The switch paid off as Olmo’s chip was headed off the post by Andre Silva before defender Orban pounced on the rebound to put the hosts ahead 14 minutes from time.
Wolfsburg’s defence buckled again eight minutes later when Silva put Nordi Mukiele away and the Frenchman slipped the ball to the unmarked Gvardiol to hit the net.
