Freiburg miss chance of closing gap to Bayern with defeat at Leipzig

Freiburg missed the chance of closing the gap to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich with a 3-1 defeat at RB Leipzig on Wednesday.

The setback halted their winning streak and dropped them to third as Union Berlin moved up to second after a 2-2 draw with Augsburg.

Freiburg keeper Mark Flekken and the woodwork made sure Leipzig couldn't get their opener in the first-half, but the home team came back fired up from the break.

Mohamed Simakan broke the deadlock in the 56th, taking the rebound after Christopher Nkunku hit the crossbar, and Nkunku himself doubled Leipzig's lead just a minute later.

Freiburg pulled one back with Lukas Kübler, but Emil Forsberg from the spot avoided late drama and sealed the win for Leipzig, who are now one point away from the Champions League spot.

"Our performance was not good enough and Leipzig have a lot of quality up front," Freiburg midfielder Nicolas Höfler told broadcasters Sky Sport.

Asked about the penalty given to Leipzig, he said that was "a absolute joke. There was contact, but that was not a penalty."

There was a goal festival in Frankfurt and the home team got the best out of the party. The Europa League winners were already leading against Hoffenheim with 10 minutes played thanks to Djibril Sow and Randal Kolo Muani.

Éric Dina Ebimbe added a third before Christoph Baumgartner pulled one back for the visitors.

Hoffenheim hit the net again with Ozan Kabak at the start of the second-half, but the excitement didn't last long as Jesper Lindström sealed a 4-2 win for Frankfurt.

Florian Niederlechner scored a brace but his Augsburg team only managed a draw at Union, who are now second in the standings and four points behind leaders Bayern.

Earlier, Bayer Leverkusen overcame a 1-0 deficit to beat Cologne 2-1 in the regional Rhine derby as they slowly move away from the relegation zone.

Hosts Cologne broke the deadlock in the 30th minute, after a stunner from Benno Schmitz. Captain Jonas Hector could have extended their advantage but hit the crossbar, while Ellyes Skhiri and Nikola Soldo also didn't succeed in their efforts.

Cologne paid a high price for the missed chances, as Nadiem Amiri levelled for Leverkusen in the 65th and Moussa Diaby turned the game around six minutes later.

"The team performance in the first half was unacceptable. Thank God we improved that in the second half," said Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, and midfielder Robert Andrich added they were happy to take "such nice, dirty derby win."

Cologne remain 12th in the table, just two points more than Leverkusen, who are now 13th.

"That was very, very annoying. We were in complete control in the first-half and for most part of the second-half," Cologne keeper Marvin Schwäbe said.

Elsewhere, bottom side Schalke secured their first win after seven consecutive defeats with a 1-0 triumph against Mainz.

On Tuesday, leaders Bayern thrashed Werder Bremen 6-1 and Borussia Dortmund lost 2-0 at VfL Wolfsburg.