NEVERLUSEN NO MORE! Bayer Leverkusen Beaten In Bundesliga For First Time in 15 Months By Leipzig

German champion Bayer Leverkusen lost a Bundesliga game for the first time in 15 months when Loïs Openda scored twice in a 3-2 comeback win for Leipzig on Saturday.

Under coach Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen has made crucial late goals a speciality. It briefly seemed like that might happen again when the referee went to review a possible penalty in the 86th minute after Leipzig's Castello Lukeba and Leverkusen's Patrik Schick made contact.

The referee decided against the spot kick and Leverkusen lost to a German opponent for the first time since May 2023 after 35 Bundesliga games unbeaten.

Leipzig came back from 2-0 down as it made the most of relatively few chances on the counter to seal a comeback win. Its three goals came from six shots to Leverkusen's 17.

Leverkusen scored twice in the space of six first-half minutes, first when Jeremie Frimpong intercepted a loose pass, sent defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu the wrong way and beat goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi. Alex Grimaldo then finished off a team move that included new signing Martin Terrier drawing Gulacsi out of position.

Still, the momentum was with Leipzig at halftime after Kevin Kampl's added-time header, and Openda then turned the game around with two precise finishes. He leveled the score with a shot from a tight angle near the touchline, and made it 3-2 with a curling effort from outside the box.

Dortmund draws
Borussia Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck was sent off as his team held on for 0-0 against Werder Bremen.

Schlotterbeck picked up his second yellow card for a clumsy tackle on Justin Njinmah in the 73rd minute as Champions League runner-up Dortmund lacked the cutting edge from its 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt last week.

Shortly before that, Schlotterbeck had a header saved, one of Dortmund's best chances in a game lacking clear-cut opportunities to score.

Stuttgart drama
Stuttgart was denied a first league win in dramatic style as Maxim Leitsch's diving header salvaged a 3-3 draw for Mainz.

Leitsch scored deep into stoppage time when Stuttgart was on the verge of winning, having taken a 3-2 lead when Fabian Rieder's 88th-minute free kick bounced off the post but in off goalkeeper Robin Zentner's back. Stuttgart had led 2-0 before an earlier Mainz comeback.

Stuttgart, which finished a surprise second in the Bundesliga last season, has a tendency to give up leads this season. Stuttgart led Freiburg in its league opener last week but lost 3-1, and the team conceded a late goal before losing to Leverkusen on penalties in the German Super Cup.

Promoted Holstein Kiel's coach Marcel Rapp was sent off as his team's first-ever home game in the Bundesliga ended in a 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg. New signing Tim Kleindienst scored one goal and set up another as Borussia Moenchengladbach won at Bochum 2-0. Frankfurt beat Hoffenheim 3-1.