"You really have to take your hat off to the team winning a point here with ten men," said Kevin Volland after the final whistle.
Playing against the team second in the table, the Werkself had to manage without defensive stalwart Sven Bender who returned to training this week after a double rib fracture but he is not yet ready to return to the first team. Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich opted for a back three of Lars Bender, Jonathan Tah ond Wendell. Other changes to the line-up following the 1-1 draw at Augsburg: Dominik Kohr replaced Julian Baumgartlinger and Admir Mehmedi moved into midfield.
RB Leipzig had central defender Willi Orban available for the match at the BayArena after he served a one-match ban following a red card in Munich that meant he missed the last match against Hannover 96.
There was little goalmouth action from either side in the first ten minutes. However, the first dangerous move of the game ended with the visitors taking the lead. Werner put Marcel Sabitzer through on goal and Mehmedi pulled the Austrian's shirt in the penalty area and Sabitzer went to ground. Referee Harm Osmers immediately awarded a penalty with Werner stepping up to make it 1-0 for Leipzig on 13 minutes.
The Werkself wanted to hit back quickly and had good chances through Mehmedi (15') and Bailey (23'). Both shots went wide of the target. Leipzig dropped back after taking the lead allowing the hosts to come onto them. The Werkself now had more possession but without any flashes of inspiration that would put them through into goalscoring positions.
Julian Brandt then had a great chance to score the equaliser after a brilliant through ball from Wendell. The Germany international hit a shot past the keeper Peter Gulacsi that went narrowly wide of the right-hand post on 38 minutes. The Werkself continued to press and really upped the pressure in the closing stages of the first half. The deserved equaliser then came on 44 minutes. An excellent pass from Kohr into the path of Bailey ended with the Jamaican coolly putting the ball past the oncoming RB keeper Gulacsi with the outside of his left foot to level the scores at 1-1.
Herrlich brought on Benjamin Henrichs for Admir Mehmedi at the start of the second half but the Werkself organisation remained unchanged. And the hosts carried on where they had left off in the final minutes of the first half. An accurate cross from Henrichs was headed just wide of the left upright by Kevin Volland with Gulacsi beaten on 48 minutes.
Leipzig struck again three minutes later. After Henrichs blocked a shot with his arm on the line, referee Osmers awarded another penalty to Leipzig and showed Henrichs the red card. Forsberg scored from the penalty spot to give the visitors a 2-1 lead on 53 minutes. Bayer 04 were now a man down. But the Werkself refused to give up.The Black and Reds threw themselves into every challenge, fought for every inch and risked everything.
The morale of Heiko Herrlich's team was impressive. Volland and Kai Havertz went close with a double chance just before the hour mark, another Havertz shot was blocked on 63 minutes and Sabitzer made a desperate challenge on 73 minutes as Volland was about to shoot. However, the battling efforts of the Werkself were rewarded from the ensuing corner. From Wendell's corner, Bender put the ball into the six-yard box for Volland to hit an impressive shot on the turn into the back of the net for a deserved leveller at 2-2 on 74 minutes. The BayArena crowd went wild. It was Volland's seventh goal of the season.
The game ended all square at 2-2 and the Werkself richly deserved the applause of the fans after the final whistle.
The next game in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04 is on Saturday 25 November with an away fixture at Eintracht Frankfurt. The match at the Commerzbank Arena kicks off at 15.30 CET.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Leno – L. Bender, Tah, Wendell – Kohr (Bellarabi 86'), Aránguiz, Mehmedi (Henrichs 46'), Bailey - Havertz, Volland (Retsos 90'), Brandt
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi - Bernardo, Orban (Upamecano 68), Konaté, Halstenberg - Keita (Augustin 55), Demme - Kampl, Forsberg (Bruma 83') - Sabitzer, Werner
Goals: 0-1 Werner (pen. 13'), 1-1 Bailey (44'), 1-2 Forsberg (pen. 54'), 2-2 Volland (74')
Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover)
Sent off: Henrichs
Booked: Mehmedi, Wendell (5), Bender, Leno, Kohr - Orban, Augustin
Attendance: 30,210 (sell-out)
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