RB Leipzig squandered a win at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim while short-handed and thus missed out on a possible leap to third place in the Bundesliga. The Saxons had to settle for a 1:1 (1:0) draw on Friday evening at the start of the 32nd matchday and remain fourth in the table with 63 points behind VfB Stuttgart (64). The Swabians will host second-placed Bayern Munich (69) on Saturday.
In front of 25,066 spectators, Benjamin Sesko put the Champions League contenders from Leipzig ahead in the 38th minute, which Andrej Kramaric (90) equalized late on. At this point, the visitors were down to ten men after Xavi (72) was shown a yellow card for a repeated foul.
Hoffenheim took the advantage to secure a draw, but it might not be enough in the battle for an international starting place. With 40 points, the Kraichgauers remain in mid-table and will have to hope their rivals slip up.
TSG had to make do without striker Wout Weghorst at short notice. The Dutchman was absent for family reasons, which coach Pellegrino Matarazzo described as "serious" on the DAZN microphone before kick-off.
The visitors were also without a player after less than 15 minutes. Austria international Xaver Schlager injured his knee through no fault of his opponent and limped off the pitch after a lengthy treatment break. He was replaced by his compatriot Nicolas Seiwald.
Shortly afterwards, Leipzig had a great chance to take the lead. After an opening pass from Dani Olmo, Xavi ran alone towards the Hoffenheim goal but failed to beat TSG goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, who reacted magnificently.
In a lively exchange of blows, the home side made their first attacking statement after 20 minutes. Andrej Kramaric's shot was saved by RB keeper Peter Gulacsi. A quarter of an hour later, the Croatian again failed to beat the Hungarian goalkeeper from an acute angle. The visitors then struck coldly at the other end. David Raum crossed to Sesko, who beat Baumann with a header.
The first chance after the restart belonged to Hoffenheim. Kramaric suddenly found himself free in front of the RB goal, but Gulacsi again came out on top in a duel with the TSG striker. The hosts now increased the pressure and barely allowed Leipzig to develop. However, there were no further major chances at first.
20 minutes before the end, Leipzig's Xavi was then sent off with a yellow card for a foul on Anton Stach. TSG now threw everything forward and were rewarded with an equalizer through Kramaric shortly before the end of normal time.
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