Diomande dazzles as Leipzig go two points behind Bayern

Teenage striker Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig netted once and set up another in their 3-1 home victory over Stuttgart on Saturday, positioning them just two points adrift of Bayern Munich.

The team reclaimed second place following Dortmund's 1-0 success against Augsburg on Friday, which had temporarily pushed the Red Bulls down the table.

Captain David Raum of Leipzig mentioned that they are solely concentrating on their own performance, even as they narrow the gap to Bayern, though he noted: "We need not conceal the drive and energy we possess right now."

Both Leipzig and Stuttgart created numerous opportunities during a lively first period, until Diomande sparked the decisive moment shortly before the break. 

The young Ivorian winger, aged 18, surged along the right flank and fired in a driven pass that Stuttgart's Jeff Chabot unfortunately deflected into his own goal.

Merely eight minutes after the restart, Diomande weaved past three opponents from Stuttgart and rifled a strike into the lower corner.

Tiago Tomas pulled one back for Stuttgart, reducing the deficit, yet Romulo sealed the result by capitalising on a blunder from away keeper Alexander Nuebel to slot it in.

After suffering a 6-0 defeat to Bayern in their initial league fixture, Leipzig have since secured 22 out of 24 available points in the competition.

Bayern, at the summit, could extend their advantage to five points with a triumph over Bayer Leverkusen at home later that day. 

Diomande featured among several promising additions to Leipzig during the summer, as the club prioritised young talent in Jurgen Klopp's debut transfer period as football coordinator for Red Bull, Leipzig's parent organisation.

Eintracht Frankfurt's difficulties persisted with a 1-1 stalemate away to bottom side Heidenheim, coming soon after Dortmund eliminated them from the German Cup.

Rasmus Kristensen, Frankfurt's Danish centre-back, levelled the scores in the second half after Budu Zivzivadze had opened the scoring.

This result keeps Eintracht in sixth position, with only one victory from their last seven outings across all tournaments.

In Berlin, Union Berlin and Freiburg ended goalless, both denied by VAR interventions on potential goals.

In other action, Borussia Moenchengladbach ended their Bundesliga drought since March, thrashing St Pauli 4-0 thanks to a double from Haris Tabakovic.

Werder Bremen rescued a 1-1 tie against struggling Mainz, with Jens Stage netting a late leveller four minutes from time.