BERLIN, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- RB Leipzig tightened its hold on second place in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 home win over Werder Bremen on Sunday, remaining six points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Facing his former club, Leipzig coach Ole Werner reshuffled his side after last week's defeat to Hoffenheim, bringing Castello Lukeba into defense and handing Conrad Harder his first league start. Bremen, unbeaten in five matches before kick-off, adopted a cautious approach, defending deep and looking to counter.
The hosts dominated possession from the outset but initially struggled to break down Bremen's compact back line. Ridle Baku spurned a promising chance midway through the first half, while Christoph Baumgartner and Assan Ouedraogo both drew saves from goalkeeper Mio Backhaus.
Leipzig broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute when Baku slipped a pass into Ouedraogo, who curled a superb shot from the edge of the box into the top corner.
Bremen tried to react but failed to build sustained pressure, and Leipzig sealed the points in the 80th minute as Xaver Schlager reacted quickest to turn the ball in after Baumgartner's header from a corner caused confusion in the six-yard area.
The result extended Leipzig's strong home form and prolonged Bremen's poor run away to Leipzig.
"We knew it would be difficult because they defended very deep," Werner said. "We created enough chances and probably should have scored earlier. After the loss in Hoffenheim, it feels very good to respond like this and take the three points."
Elsewhere, Rani Khedira's goal gave Union Berlin a 1-0 win over St. Pauli. ■
