The battle for top spot in the Bundesliga on Wednesday night was an eventful affair as Bayern Munich claimed a 3-0 win over promoted high-fliers RB Leipzig.
The news will have gone down well with the vast majority of football fans in Germany as Leipzig are hated for the manner in which they exploited a loophole in the system to launch their rise up the ranks of the German football system, but they had a chance to reclaim top spot from Bayern Munich with a win.
Instead, they found themselves two goals down in 25 minutes thanks to Thiago and Xabi Alonso, and things went from bad to worse as Emil Forsberg was sent off just five minutes later for a professional foul on Phillip Lahm, who was in the process of launching a counter-attack.
The incident sparked crazy scenes on the pitch as the Bayern players surrounded the referee with a response time that Roy Keane and the great Manchester United side of 1998/99 would have been proud of. The Leipzig players, too, were incensed when the referee showed Forsberg a red card, having originally taken a yellow out of his pocket.
While there were a number of Leipzig players covering, and there was a long, long way left to goal, the challenge was a nasty one with studs coming down on the achilles. Phillip Lahm didn't seem too upset, but then again, that's the type of guy he is, but it really was a shocker as the replays showed:
Rather than let the Bayern players influence his decision, it was a call from his assistant that made him change to a red. It was the right call. Lewandowski would make it 3-0 from the penalty spot before half-time, and that was how the game finished.
The ref looked like he was in a mosh pit within seconds of blowing the whistle and deserves credit for keeping his cool and making the correct decision.
