Bundesliga Matchday 14 recap: Bayern loses, the race for Europe becomes closer, and reason for Bochum optimism. | OneFootball

Matchday 14 in the Bundesliga gave us a lot of talking points and further tightened the table when it comes to the title and the race for Europe. With just five points separating 4th and 10th, there is plenty to talk about after the fallout of matchday 14 in the Bundesliga.

Bayern Beaten by Mainz

Bayern Munich suffered their first Bundesliga defeat of the season as a Jae-Sung Lee brace secured all three points for Mainz 05.

Bayern started the brighter of the two with Micheal Olise having two decent chances in the opening 10 mins, his first effort inside five minutes rattling the post.

Mainz got their noses in front as Bayern failed to clear their lines and a wicked deflection fell kindly for Lee who simply couldn’t miss.

Mainz’s second, however, was anything but lucky as a beautifully crafted move on the right-hand-side found Lee in the box who cleverly turned his man and smashed the ball home.

The move queued wild celebrations from the Mainz faithful including head coach Bo Henriksen who must have thought Christmas had come early.

Bayern did pull one back a few minutes from time when the ball fell kindly for Leroy Sané who couldn’t miss but Mainz held on for an impressive victory.

Mainz get back to winning ways following defeat to Wolfsburg and are right in the mix for European contention on 22 points in 7th.

Bayern will look to bounce back in a huge game against RB Leipzig on matchday 15.

RB Leipzig Back on Track

Marco Rose had been under a lot of pressure at RB Leipzig in recent weeks but it appears his side have finally turned the corner and are back on track (domestically anyway).

Following a winless November, the Saxons have reached the last eight of the DFB Pokal and secured back-to-back Bundesliga wins with their latest victory against Eintracht Frankfurt as Rose’s side ran out 2-1 winners.

Leipzig took the lead through Benjamin Šeško who was quickest to react following a smart save from Kevin Trapp – Šeško only had eyes for the lopping ball with the Frankfurt defence perhaps a little disorientated as to where the ball had actually gone – Šeško was left to cushion the ball into the net.

What followed was a flurry of chances from both sides including Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush whose freekick rattled the crossbar and was just inches away from going in. Should that set piece have found the net, it would have been Marmoush’s third consecutive goal from a free kick.

Frankfurt did get themselves level through Nathaniel Brown who is having a breakout season to remember. This was just his 7th Bundesliga game and that was his third goal having already assisted twice this campaign. He was teed up beautifully on the left as his shot cannoned against the far post and in.

Leipzig got the winner five minutes into the second half when a corner was flicked onto the back post where Loïs Openda was left free to volley the ball into the net.

It’s another impressive display from Marco Rose’s men who must love to welcome Frankfurt to the Red Bull Arena.

The win puts Leipzig level on points with Frankfurt as they move up into 4th, breathing down the necks of Frankfurt in 3rd.

Around The Grounds

Bayer Leverkusen are back up into second and four points off top spot following a 0-2 victory away at FC Augsburg. That’s now seven consecutive wins in all competitions for Xabi Alonso’s side who appear to have found their form again following a rocky opening to the season. Up next is 5th place SC Freiburg.

TSG Hoffenheim scored an injury time equaliser to rescue a point away at Borussia Dortmund. The away side were more deserving of their point as they had the better opportunities and shots at goal. The draw leaves BVB in 8th on 22 points while Hoffenheim are in 14th on 14 points.

VfL Bochum played the majority of their match away at Union Berlin with ten men. Despite this, they held on for a point and even took the lead in the 23rd minute. It was completely one-way traffic with constant pressure from Union but Bochum held on for what may not seem like an important point considering they haven’t a game yet but it’s a sign they haven’t given up. After this, you feel their first win is only a matter of time.

GGFN | Jamie Allen