Bailey fires Leverkusen atop Bundesliga

Leon Bailey's red-hot start to the football season in Europe continued over the weekend, with the winger scoring twice in Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 win over nine-man Hoffenheim to go top of the Bundesliga.

The Peter Bosz-coached team, which is unbeaten this season, sits atop of the Bundesliga table for the first time since 2014 with 25 points from 11 matches, one ahead of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.

Bailey, who also scored twice in mid-week in Leverkusen's 4-0 Europa League win over Slavia Praha to top Group C, got the new league leaders off the mark in only the fourth minute, firing home an unstoppable curler from a short corner.

The winger nearly added a second minutes later, but his low shot was deflected wide.

However, he did get his second of the match and fourth of the season on minute 27 when he intercepted a pass to the goalkeeper Oliver Baumann and slotted around the custodian to put his team two up.

Two-goal advantage

Bayer almost got a third just before the break but Florian Wirtz's shot was tipped over by Baumann, after he was set up by Bailey.

Hoffenheim pulled a goal back with a strike from Christoph Baumgartner in the 50th minute.

But Wirtz restored Leverkusen's two-goal advantage five minutes later.

Hoffenheim were reduced a man in the 64th minute when Florian Grillitsch was ejected after a second yellow card.

The Jamaica winger Bailey was substituted after 75 minutes.

The 12th place Bundesliga team, Hoffenheim then lost another player when Stephan Posch also received a second yellow card ten minutes from time.

Leverkusen sealed a comprehensive win late on when Lucas Alario fired home from the penalty spot in added time.

Bailey was named the Europa player of the week for his performance on Thursday against Slavia Praha, and remained on the radar of numerous English Premier League (EPL) clubs.

He has netted nine goals (4 Bundesliga, 5 Europa League) and registered six assists (4 Bundesliga, 2 Europa League), in 16 games and is only three goals fewer than his best return of 12 goals and six assists for Leverkusen in the 2017/2018 season.