Werner hat-trick inspires crushing Leipzig win
Timo Werner scored a hat-trick against Mainz for the second time this season as RB Leipzig thrashed it 5-0.
RB Leipzig was back to its devastating with a 5-0 win over Mainz away from home, Timo Werner's hat-trick helping to reinvigorate their Bundesliga title challenge.
Julian Nagelsmann's side had lost ground in their most recent domestic matches, drawing three in a row, but found a familiar groove again in their second outing since the season's resumption.
Leipzig played some wonderful football and blew Mainz away as it moved back up to third and within seven points of the summit.
Werner got Leipzig up and running early on with just his second goal in nine league games, before Yussuf Poulsen – also a scorer last weekend – and Marcel Sabitzer had relentless Leipzig effectively home and dry by half-time.
The host was fortunate to avoid a demolition in the second half, with Leipzig proving a little more wasteful with their finishing, but Werner still managed to add another two goals to complete his second hat-trick of the season against Mainz and take his tally to 30 for the campaign across all competitions.
Given Werner's exploits the last time these teams met, having a hand in six of Leipzig's goals during an 8-0 win, it was perhaps unsurprising – despite his recent struggles – that he would be the one to open the scoring here as he guided Konrad Laimer's low cross in from an acute angle.
Poulsen made it 2-0 soon after in the 23rd minute, rising to meet Sabitzer's cross with an emphatic header on his 250th appearance for the club.
The pair then swapped roles nine minutes before the break, Poulsen's cut-back teeing up Sabitzer for a first-time finish into the top-right corner after Mainz – who had little answer to Leipzig when in full flow – were caught by a devastating counter-attack.
Mainz was ruthlessly carved apart again just after the restart. The lively Kevin Kampl charged into the box after a one-two with Christopher Nkunku and pulled the ball back for Werner to apply the straightforward finish.
Several opportunities went begging for the visitor, which also had a Kampl effort disallowed for an apparent offside, but Werner did eventually complete his treble 15 minutes from time, racing on to a lofted pass from Poulsen and nudging the ball past the approaching Florian Muller.
