Elversberg stun Leverkusen in dream Bundesliga debut

MUNICH: The Bundesliga newcomers Elversberg began their first top-flight campaign in style, stunning Bayer Leverkusen with an impressive 3-2 home victory on Saturday night.

Lukas Petkov and Cole Campbell scored within 60 seconds of each other to put Elversberg 2-0 up before the 10-minute mark. David Mokwa added another early in the second half in front of 9,307 delirious fans.

Patrik Schick and Christian Kofane pulled late goals back, but it was not enough to prevent a famous victory for Elversberg, as they embarrassed a team who won the title in 2024 without losing a game.

The town of Elversberg has a population of just 13,000, making it the smallest settlement to have ever hosted a Bundesliga side. Their ground, the Ursapharm-Arena, has a reduced capacity while upgrades are made to meet the German top flight’s stadium criteria.

“It’s an indescribable day,” the Elversberg captain, Lukas Pinckert, told Sky. “We worked hard to earn the right to play in this league. The victory is deserved. I am incredibly proud of the team.”

Leverkusen looked disorganised and lacked energy until late on, showing new coach Carles Martínez Novell that he has work to do. The Spaniard took over from Kasper Hjulmand in the summer after leaving his previous role at Ligue 1 side Toulouse.

RB Leipzig cruised to a 3-0 home win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, with the former Chelsea and France forward Christopher Nkunku setting up a goal on his return to the club. Agencies

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