VfB Stuttgart 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen

(Havertz 20′, Bender 80′)

Another week and another solid performance for Bayer Leverkusen. Leon Bailey put in a spectacular shift, showing why he has been linked with the likes of Chelsea in recent times. Good movement on the flanks led Bailey to deliver the first of his two assists, as Kai Havertz snuck the ball under Ron-Robert Zieler. Stuttgart had a few chances themselves, and might have drawn level had Bernd Leno not played one of the best games of his career. Bailey extinguished the danger from the hosts, setting Lars Bender up for a header that extended Bayer’s unbeaten run to 10 games.

RB Leipzig 2-2 Mainz

(Kampl 29′, Werner pen. 45+3′ – Quaison 39′, Berggreen 86′)

Mainz came back from behind twice to earn a point against RB Leipzig. Kevin Kampl scored the opener, tucking home from Diego Demme’s ball across the box. Alas, the lead was short-lived as Robin Quaison equalized after Peter Gulacsi had palmed away Daniel Brosinski’s shot from a free-kick. Timo Werner reinstated the lead with a penalty deep into the first half. Leipzig failed to hold on to the three points as Emil Berggreen headed home to grab a share of the spoils for Mainz.

Eintracht Frankfurt 0-1 Bayern Munchen

(Vidal 20′)

With Robert Lewandowski on the bench, Arturo Vidal scored in his fourth consecutive game. Joshua Kimmich’s accurate cross found Vidal at the back post for the eventual winner. The lead was rarely under fire from the hosts. Jetro Willems and Ante Rebic had chances but failed as Bayern secured the top spot until the New Year.

Hamburger SV 0-0 Wolfsburg

While Wolfsburg only had 2 shots on goal the entire game, the hosts had more chances but proved excessively profligate with them. The hosts created much more, but Filip Kostic, Tatsuya Ito, and Jann-Fiete Arp all wasted their chances. The visitors never warmed to the occasion, but Hamburg cannot have many complaints about the result, due to their incredible wastefulness in front of goal.

Borussia Dortmund 1-2 Werder Bremen

(Aubameyang 57′ – Eggestein 26′, Gebre Selassie 65′)

Dortmund came into this match in their worst domestic form in 17 years, and Werder Bremen did well to exploit their delicate confidence. Bremen did not sit back and had the better of a low-key first half. Captain Zlatko Junuzovic came close with a long-range effort within 10 minutes and Roman Burki was looking rattled as it took him two attempts to corral Max Kruse’s shot. Kruse played a ball out to Maximilian Eggestein, who shifted to his left foot and rifled home a superb finish. Dortmund played much better after the interval and rightfully went on level footing with Bremen when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a scrappy goal, his fifth in fourth. Rather than rolling over and allowing BVB to carry on, Werder found an eventual winner through a Theodor Gebre Selassie header. The home side had a great chance to get back into the contest, but Shinji Kagawa hit his shot from close range into Aubameyang and over the goal. Max Kruse, with two assists on his 200th Bundesliga appearance, condemned Dortmund to a loss and left Peter Bosz without a job.

Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Schalke 04

(Kramer 24′ – Vestergaard OG 62′)

Christoph Kramer scored his first in 3 years to open the game before a couple of disallowed goals from Naldo and Vincenzo Grifo. A VAR review overturned a penalty awarded to Monchengladbach before the interval. Minutes after Domenico Tedesco sent on Guido Burgstaller, Schalke were level. Daniel Caligiuri crossed low from the right and Jannik Vestergaard turned it into his own goal. Burgstaller was denied by Yann Sommer near the death of the game, while Thorgan Hazard failed to put away a header. The two sides came in at third and fourth and left in the same places.

Koln 3-4 SC Freiburg

(Klunter 8′, Guirassy pen. 16′, Stanko OG 29′ – Petersen 39′, pen 90′, pen 90+6′, Haberer 65′)

A game of the season contender in Cologne as Freiburg came back from 3 down to pile more misery on the effzeh. A lively Sehrou Guirassy flicked a ball for Milos Jojic, who slotted it through to Lukas Klunter for the first goal. Klunter burst through a stationary defence to put the hosts up before 10 minutes had passed. Guirassy himself got the second from the spot before Caleb Stanko, sent on in the 17th minute, put one in the back of his down net. Nils Petersen hit a volley in for what would appear to be the only consolation for Freiburg against the bottom club in the league. Yoric Ravet, who assisted the first of four for Freiburg, proved threatening again from a set-piece, allowing Janik Haberer to draw them within one. Nils Petersen scored two penalties in the dying moments to complete an epic comeback.

Hannover 96 2-0 Hoffenheim

(Fullkrug 59′, Harnik 85′)

A snowy game in Hannover ended with the hosts taking the spoils. Both sides struggled with the conditions and Hoffenheim went ahead through Nadiem Amiri, only for them see the offside flag raised. A cross from Ihlas Bebou led to Hannover’s goal on the stroke of the hour mark. Hoffenheim sent long balls raining – or perhaps snowing, in this case – into the Hannover box but to no avail, as Martin Harnik wrapped up the win for Hannover.