Leipzig win again as Hertha sub sent off after five minutes

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Early equalizer and penalty gift RB Leipzig

Hertha Berlin fail to win again as RB Leipzig hammer home a 2-1 win. Watch the Bundesliga on ESPN+.

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:13 am

RB Leipzig came from behind to beat Hertha Berlin 2-1 and stay top of the Bundesliga on Saturday after their opponents had substitute Deyovaisio Zeefuik sent off after only five minutes on the pitch.

Jhon Cordoba gave Hertha a ninth-minute lead, sweeping the ball home to finish off a counter-attack, but Dayot Upamecano levelled two minutes later with a shot into the roof of the net after the visitors failed to clear the ball.

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Zeefuik was brought on at halftime, booked for a foul on Christopher Nkunku within a minute and given a second yellow for another foul on the same player in the 50th.

Hertha pressed the self-destruct button again when Cordoba carelessly fouled Willi Orban and Marcel Sabitzer scored from the penalty spot in the 77th minute.

Jessic Ngankam, who came on as a substitute in the 84th minute, nearly suffered the same fate as Zeefuik when he was given a straight red card for a late challenge but the referee changed it to yellow after a VAR review.

Ngankam was already walking down the tunnel when the official changed his mind.

Unbeaten Leipzig lead with 13 points from five games, one ahead of Bayern Munich who thumped Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0.

Bottom-of-the-table Mainz 05 were denied their first points of the season when Borussia Moenchengladbach staged a late comeback to win 3-2.

Gladbach went ahead with a Lars Stindl goal in the 15th minute before Jean-Philippe Mateta scored twice to give Mainz a 2-1 halftime lead.

They stayed in front until Jonas Hofmann levelled with a penalty in the 76th minute before Mattias Ginter headed in at the near post from a corner to win the match for the Foals.

Union Berlin and Freiburg drew 1-1 in the afternoon's other match to leave both sides with six points. Vincenzo Grifo fired Freiburg in front after 34 minutes and Robert Andrich levelled two minutes later with a low shot from outside the area.