Leverkusen undone by fortuitous Hoffenheim winner
Hoffenheim surged up to third place in the Bundesliga after Wouter Burger's fortuitous finish saw it to a 1-0 home win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Christian Ilzer's side made it four games unbeaten thanks to a narrow victory at PreZero Arena, moving one point clear of fourth-placed RB Leipzig, which was handed a heavy 5-1 defeat by leader Bayern Munich later in the day having led at half-time.
The contest was decided by a strange ninth-minute opener as Mark Flekken was caught out by Wouter Burger's right-sided free-kick that sailed over everyone and nestled into the top corner.
Fisnik Asllani and Alexander Prass then forced Flekken into further action in a dominant opening from the hosts, before Patrik Schick was denied by Oliver Baumann.
Prass had another chance early into the second half, but miscued a rebound attempt before Baumann beat away Alejandro Grimaldo's free-kick effort.
Tim Lemperle then saw a finish ruled out for offside as Hoffenheim held on, largely thanks to defensive heroics from Albian Hajdari and Robin Hranac to deny Schick.
Hoffenheim has now won its past six Bundesliga home matches, after losing five in a row before that.
As for Leverkusen, it was more of the same frustration – Burger's free-kick was the 12th goal it has conceded in this season's competition from set-pieces.
