RB Leipzig’s talisman Xavi Simons (21) scored a brace on his injury return to fire his side to a confidence-boosting 4-2 win over Werder Bremen, ensuring his team maintained their unbeaten record in head-to-head Bundesliga home meetings (W7, D1)
After spending time out with an ankle injury, Xavi required 24 minutes to make an impact in his first competitive appearance since October.
The Dutchman latched onto Lois Openda’s neat flick-on from a throw-in, before he kept his composure to slot the ball past Michael Zetterer in the Bremen goal.
However, Leipzig’s celebratory mood quickly turned to one of frustration, as the visitors produced an instant response thanks to a slick attacking move, culminating in Mitchell Weiser exchanging a quick one-two with Marco Grull to create the space to guide the ball into the bottom corner.
Unfortunately for Bremen, they soon found themselves back on the hunt for an equaliser after Xavi produced a moment of magic to restore Leipzig’s slender lead before the half-time interval.
The Netherlands international embarked on a purposeful run towards the right side of the box, before he rifled the ball past Zetterer with the aid of a favourable deflection.
After taking momentum into the break, Leipzig picked up from where they left off to make an electric start to the second period, courtesy of Benjamin Sesko’s long-range stunner.
The Slovenia international set the ball out of his feet before launching a thunderous strike into the top corner to trouble the scorers in a fourth consecutive Bundesliga match.
Not content with their work, Leipzig continued to push for a fourth which eventually arrived in the 90th minute when Christoph Baumgartner steered the ball into the bottom to wrap up all three points.
There was still time for Oliver Burke to lash home a consolation, but it could not stop Bremen’s five-game unbeaten run from coming to a disappointing end.
The visitors remain in eighth position, while the hosts move into the top four thanks to their fifth home league win of the season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig)
Check out the match summary with Flashscore.
