Hoffenheim punish Leverkusen late as Kramarić ends six-game winning run

1899 Hoffenheim beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 on Sunday, with all three goals coming after half-time and the key moment arriving from the spot. Andrej Kramarić scored a 79th-minute penalty to break the game open, and Hoffenheim piled on late to end Leverkusen's run of six straight competitive wins. For a match that stayed tight for so long, the finish was brutal on the visitors.

Carles Martínez told SPORT1, in comments translated from German: "We are in a good moment." Leverkusen had arrived with four wins and a draw in their previous five league games, and the broader run had lifted them to 13 points before kick-off. They still sit on 13 after this defeat, which leaves them fourth rather than pushing any higher.

Kramarić's penalty changed everything

The defining moment in 1899 Hoffenheim vs Bayer Leverkusen came in the 79th minute, when Kramarić converted from the penalty spot. It was his first Bundesliga goal of the season, and it arrived in his seventh league appearance.

That number tells its own story. Kramarić has not been filling up the scoresheet in the league so far, but this was exactly the kind of intervention Hoffenheim needed against a side that had been collecting wins almost every time out.

Leverkusen had enough recent form to expect a different afternoon. They came in on that six-match competitive winning streak, and some descriptions around the game have blurred that into a wider run. The firmer line is still the six straight wins, and Hoffenheim stopped it.

The scoreline also gives Hoffenheim's display proper weight. This was not a scrappy 1-0 built on one incident. Once Kramarić put them ahead, the home side turned a close contest into a heavy defeat.

Hoffenheim's late surge and Leverkusen's flat finish

Hoffenheim's second goal came in the 89th minute through Alexander Prass. Then the game took another turn when Prass was sent off in the 90th minute after a yellow-red sequence that followed his goal.

Even with that flashpoint, Leverkusen never recovered. Max Moerstedt added the third in the 90th minute plus 5, which made the final margin look every bit as bad as it felt for the visitors.

There were warning signs for Leverkusen before the late collapse. M. Diaby was replaced before half-time by Malik Tillman because of a reported thigh issue, and Jonas Hofmann started on the bench after his double against OFI Kreta. Up front, Patrik Schick came into the game with 6 Bundesliga goals this season but failed to score on matchday 7 for the first time.

Hoffenheim also got help from Fisnik Asllani in the build-up to a result that will feel bigger than a routine home win, even if it should not be stretched into a grand statement about the league. The stronger point is simpler: they were sharper in the decisive moments, and Leverkusen were not.

Leverkusen's record stays clear, Hoffenheim take the points

The result leaves Leverkusen on 13 points and ends the momentum Martínez had referenced before the match. Hoffenheim, meanwhile, turned one of the weekend's tighter games into one of its clearest scorelines.

Kramarić will get the headline because the penalty changed the match, but the closing stretch mattered just as much to the feel of the afternoon. Prass scored and went off, Moerstedt added the third, and Hoffenheim walked away with a 3-0 win on 25 October.