Benjamin Sesko scored twice in five minutes as RB Leipzig’s young attack combined superbly to beat Augsburg 4-0 at home on Saturday.
Sesko struck twice and laid on an assist for fellow 21-year-old Xavi Simons, who himself assisted a goal for 24-year-old Lois Openda.
After 10 minutes, Sesko drilled a low shot into the bottom left from outside the box to open the scoring, leaping high to head in a David Raum cross shortly after.
Augsburg had a chance to fight their way back into the match when Leipzig gave away a penalty midway through the first stanza but Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s effort was well saved by home goalie Peter Gulacsi.
Openda beat Augsburg’s offside trap just a minute into the second half, latching onto a Simons pass to put Leipzig 3-0 up. Simons then got on the scoresheet himself, knocking in a Sesko pass from close range.
Last year’s runners-up Stuttgart came back to earth after Sunday’s 5-1 demolition of Borussia Dortmund, finishing with 10 men in a 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg.
The Wolves hit the lead after 10 minutes, Jonas Wind slotting home calmly after Stutgart lost possession in midfield.
Stuttgart equalised late in the first half, Enzo Millot tapping in a rebound after his penalty was saved.
The visitors were on the wrong end of a tough call midway through the second half, Atakan Karazor sent from the park for a second yellow despite looking the victim of a foul in a tussle with Wolfsburg’s Maximilian Arnold.
Wolfsburg hit the lead five minutes later through Mohamed Amoura, who was himself sent from the park with 15 minutes remaining but VAR overturned the red card decision.
Germany forward Deniz Undav saved his side from a tough defeat, scoring in the seventh minute of injury time to snatch a point.
St Pauli won their first top-division match since February 2011 with a 3-0 victory at a wasteful and unlucky Freiburg.
A double from Elias Saad and a goal from Dapo Afolayan took St Pauli to victory, with Freiburg having two goals ruled out for offside, alongside a saved penalty attempt from Vincenzo Grifo.
Tomas Cvancara’s goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time took Borussia Moenchengladbach to a 1-0 home win over Union Berlin, ending the latter’s unbeaten record in the league this season.
Goals from Marvin Pieringer and Jan Schoeppner took Heidenheim to a 2-0 win at Mainz, who were reduced to 10 men after Andreas Hanche-Olsen picked up two yellow cards inside the first 29 minutes.
In Saturday’s late game, Bayern Munich host Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.
