BAYER Leverkusen missed a chance to reclaim the lead in the Bundesliga on Sunday, suffering a 4-1 loss at VfL Wolfsburg, meaning that promoted Paderborn’s magical weekend continued by staying atop the Bundesliga.
Ricardo Rodriguez scored two goals and set up another as Wolfsburg handed Leverkusen their first defeat of the season and picked up their first victory.
Leverkusen went a man down after just seven minutes after a red card for Giulio Donati, whose foul in the box resulted in Rodriguez’s first goal in the eighth minute.
Leverkusen, who came into the weekend as table-toppers, equalised in the 29th minute through Josip Drmic but Vieirinha made it 2-1 after 45 minutes after a pass from Rodriguez.
The Swiss defender added a second goal in the 63rd and Aaron Hunt added the fourth in the 81st minute.
“The whole thing was too much for us,” said Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt.
“They are a strong opponent, there was an early red card and goal. And then the goal right before the half-time. It was just too much for my young team.”
Leverkusen’s seven points leave them fifth behind a quartet of teams with eight points — one more than Schmidt’s side.
The other Sunday match saw FC Cologne hold Borussia Moenchengladbach to a scoreless draw at home — as both teams moved to six points while Cologne have yet to concede a goal this season.
The biggest winners of the weekend were promoted Paderborn, who beat Hanover 96 2-0 on Saturday to take first place with eight points.
Elias Kachunga scored in the 71st minute for Paderborn and Moritz Stoppelkamp added another after 93 minutes.
Paderborn coach Andre Breitenreiter, who saw his team win their first home match in the top flight, said: “We just want to keep collecting points to avoid relegation. Now we can go to Munich next week with confidence.”
The match also saw Stoppelkamp score from an estimated 83 metres out.
“I didn’t know that I could even shoot that far,” said the goal scorer.
In second are Mainz 05, who beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 thanks to goals by Shinji Okazaki in the 66th and an own goal by Matthias Ginter in the 74th.
Hoffenheim are third with eight points after a 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart with Anthony Modeste scoring after 15 minutes and Tarik Elyounoussi adding a second in the 84th.
Champions Bayern Munich were unable to get the better of a Hamburg team under new coach Joe Zinnbauer playing out a 0-0 draw in Hamburg.
The reigning champions also have eight points from four games but are sitting fourth.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said his team struggled just days after a tough mid-week battle against Manchester City.
“After the Champions League match, it was tough to play,” said Guardiola. “We have to keep on working hard.” AFP