体坛英语新闻：Leipzig beat Augsburg 3-1 to clinch autumn championship in Bundesliga

BERLIN, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Leipzig came from behind to beat Augsburg 3-1 on three second-half goals in the 17th round in Bundesliga on Saturday and will remain atop the standings through the winter break.

The three goals from Konrad Laimer, Patrik Schick and Yussuf Poulsen helped the home team defend the top spot, two points ahead of runners-up Borussia Monchengladbach.

The hosts assumed control from the starting whistle and thought they got rewarded in the early stages but Timo Werner's supposed opener was disallowed due to a foregone handball in the fourth minute.

It were the visitors though who opened the scoring with their first chance in the eighth minute, as Marco Richter's assist and the assistance of the crossbar allowed Florian Niederlechner to score with a drop kick.

Leipzig responded well and pressed Augsburg, who kept all their men behind the ball, into their territory.

However, neither Dayot Upamecano, who rattled the woodwork, nor Schick, whose effort got scratched off the goal-line, were able to level the score before the break.

The dominant hosts had to exercise patience until the 68th minute before Laimer had all time and space at the edge of the box to curl the equalizer from 15 meters into the top right corner.

The draw wasn't enough for Leipzig who continued on the front foot and completed their comeback in the 80th minute after Schick nodded home Christopher Nkunku's corner to make it 2-1.

Augsburg were unable to put up resistance while relentless Leipzig extended their lead in the closing period as Werner's square pass found substitute Poulsen, who put the match beyond doubt.

With the victory, Leipzig defend their top spot in the table whereas Augsburg stay on the 10th place after their three-game winning run came to an end.

Elsewhere, defending champions Bayern Munich carved out a late 2-0 win over Wolfsburg. The German record champions had to thank their youngster Joshua Zirkzee, who once again broke the deadlock in the closing stages before Serge Gnabry sewed up all three points.

Schalke held Freiburg to a two-all draw as substitute Ahmed Kutucu scored late to force a share of the spoils.

Lucas Alario's injury time winner secured Bayer Leverkusen a narrow 1-0 victory over Mainz and newly promoted Cologne extended their winning run to three games after beating struggling Werder Bremen 1-0.