Brandt stars as Leverkusen hit back to beat Leipzig

Julian Brandt inspired Bayer Leverkusen to a crucial win over RB Leipzig on Monday that moved them into a Champions League qualification spot. The 21-year-old Brandt, who signed a surprise new contract at the club only last week, was at the centre of the action as Leverkusen turned around a 1-0 deficit with three goals in less than 15 minutes. "I thought I got better as the game went on," Brandt told Eurosport. "Games like this are a lot of fun, particularly when you score a few goals in the second half."

Kai #Havertz: "We have enormous quality offensively. Everything clicked today and was really strong.

The key to our success lies in our cohesion and everyone being there for each other!"#RBLB04 | 1:4 pic.twitter.com/W9NM4N4Bjv — Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) April 9, 2018

The win sees Leverkusen move into fourth, leapfrogging Leipzig, who drop to sixth. Marcel Sabitzer gave hosts Leipzig the lead on 17 minutes as the Austrian linked up sharply with Yussuf Poulsen before firing a low volley into the bottom corner.

? Heiko #Herrlich: "In the second half, my team played like they’d been unleashed. Overall, I am very pleased that we can take three points from Leipzig. "#RBLB04 | 1:4 pic.twitter.com/IocDCsLzlI

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) April 9, 2018

With both sides driving forward, chances fell at both ends. Brandt forced a good save from Peter Gulacsi on the half hour mark, while both Poulsen and Emil Forsberg came close for Leipzig. Leverkusen drew level on the stroke of half-time with a devastating counter-attack. An elegant cross from Leon Bailey found Kai Havertz, who smashed the ball past Gulacsi.

Leverkusen making moves ? pic.twitter.com/rWeR13mPtp

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) April 9, 2018

In the second half, Leverkusen ran riot. The rout began just five minutes after the break as Bernd Leno's goal-kick cleared the Leipzig back line, and Brandt moved quickly to sweep it into the bottom corner. Brandt was involved again minutes later as his curling free-kick was headed away by Dayot Upamecano, only for Panagiotis Retsos to fire it in on the rebound. In the 69th minute, Brandt wrapped up a blistering second-half performance as he set up Kevin Volland to slot home Leverkusen's fourth. RESULTS: RB Leipzig 1 (Sabitzer 17) Bayer Leverkusen 4 (Havertz 45, Brandt 51, Retsos 56, Volland 69) Bundesliga table after Monday's match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Bayern Munich           29 23  3  3 76 21 72 -- champions Schalke 04              29 15  7  7 45 33 52 Borussia Dortmund       29 14  9  6 57 39 51 Bayer Leverkusen        29 13  9  7 51 36 48 Eintracht Frankfurt     29 13  7  9 40 33 46 RB Leipzig              29 13  7  9 44 41 46 Hoffenheim              29 11 10  8 53 42 43 Bor. Moenchengladbach   29 11  7 11 38 43 40 VfB Stuttgart           29 11  5 13 26 34 38 Hertha Berlin           29  8 12  9 33 34 36 Augsburg                29  9  9 11 38 40 36 Werder Bremen           29  9  9 11 33 35 36 Hanover 96              29  9  8 12 37 43 35 Freiburg                29  6 12 11 26 48 30 VfL Wolfsburg           29  5 14 10 30 37 29 Mainz 05                29  6  9 14 30 47 27 Hamburg                 29  5  7 17 23 46 22 Cologne                 29  5  6 18 28 56 21