Andrej Kramaric came off the bench to change everything in Sinsheim, scoring Hoffenheim's 1,000th Bundesliga goal from the penalty spot before creating a second and hitting the bar for a third as Christian Ilzer's side scored three times in the final 17 minutes to beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.
For 78 minutes at the SNP Arena, this looked like a goalless draw neither side deserved to lose. Then Edmond Tapsoba clipped Fisnik Asllani's ankle inside the box, a VAR review sent the referee to the spot, and Kramaric — on as a 65th-minute substitute — did the rest. The Bundesliga match report confirmed a result that secured Hoffenheim their first Bundesliga clean sheet of the season and ended Leverkusen's five-game unbeaten league run.
A first half Hoffenheim should have led
The hosts were the better side before the break in heavy rain. Leon Avdullahu forced Mark Flekken into a fine save on 13 minutes, Asllani was denied twice by the Leverkusen goalkeeper, and Adam Hlozek crashed the best chance of the half off the post from a tight angle, with Alexander Prass putting the rebound just wide.
Leverkusen's afternoon darkened further when Moussa Diaby was forced off injured in the first half. It followed a draining Thursday for both clubs in the Europa League — Hoffenheim beat Lyon 3-0 at home, while Leverkusen won away at OFI Crete — and Ilzer's four changes coped far better than the visitors' six.
Kramaric takes the game away in 17 minutes
The penalty on 79 minutes was a piece of club history: Kramaric, who also scored Hoffenheim's 500th Bundesliga goal, now owns their 1,000th as well. Leverkusen pushed Robert Andrich and Ibrahim Maza forward in search of an equaliser, and Kramaric punished the space they left. On 89 minutes he weighted a pass perfectly for Prass to fire past Flekken — Prass then took off his shirt in celebration, collected a second yellow card and was sent off, a footnote Flashscore also recorded in its report.
There was still time for a third. In the sixth minute of stoppage time Kramaric's effort came back off the crossbar and Max Moerstedt pounced on the rebound to open his Bundesliga account for the season. The expected-goals numbers told the story of the home side's dominance: 3.19 to 0.62. Kramaric was voted player of the match with 59 per cent of the vote, having been on the pitch for barely 25 minutes.
So what? Leverkusen's run ends as the top end tightens
Leverkusen arrived chasing a seventh successive win in all competitions and left with their first defeat in 18 Sunday away games in the Bundesliga. One bad quarter of an hour does not undo their start, but it is a reminder that their squad depth is being stretched by the Thursday-Sunday grind — six changes and an injury to Diaby left them short of answers once Hoffenheim's bench produced a player of Kramaric's quality.
For Hoffenheim, back-to-back 3-0 wins over Lyon and Leverkusen in four days transform the mood around Ilzer's team. With Dortmund winning again on Saturday, the Bundesliga's European places are congested — and a side that can call a finisher like Kramaric off the bench will believe it belongs in that fight.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is what a great substitute looks like — not fresh legs, but a finisher who decides a game that was drifting to 0-0 and writes his name into his club's history while he does it. Leverkusen were not outplayed for 78 minutes; they were outlasted, and then Kramaric ended them. Is there a better impact substitute in the Bundesliga right now?
