Bundesliga Top Five, Round 27: Terrific Timo Werner bags a hat-trick
Timo Werner put in a top notch striking performance as RB Leipzig demolished Mainz 5-0, with the German international scoring a hat-trick.
All his goals typically came from inside the box, and were all different, too. The first saw him come on to a Konraid Laimer cross to divert a first-time shot into the bottom left corner.
That was 11 minutes in, and Leipzig continued to dominate from there, creating chance after chance and hitting no less than 20 shots on goal. Werner would claim his second from close range after some terrific work from Kevin Kampl.
To earn his hat-trick, he drifted through on goal before catching the goalkeeper out with a lofted right-footed finish into the corner.
He was a real problem for Mainz all afternoon, as highlighted by his 11 touches inside the penalty area which was more than any Bundesliga player in this round in this round of fixtures.
While Werner did his job to finish the chances created, Kampl was Leipzig's best creative force in deeper areas. He created two Big Chances, one of which was converted by his centre-forward team-mate a few yards out.
That was after he combined quite magnificently with Christopher Nkunku with a one-two to burst into the area.
Although he didn't have a direct impact in any other goals in the game via an assist or a goal, he kept things ticking over for the visitors, moving the ball around quickly as Mainz sat back to soak up the pressure.
In his 70 minutes in the match, he completed a superb 73/77 attempted passes to team-mates for a completion rate of 95%, while he enjoyed 85 touches overall.
Mainz were certainly not impressive, but his nine ball recoveries helped to ensure they rarely gained any momentum.
Marcel Sabitzer celebrated his return to the Leipzig starting XI with a goal and an assist.
He was excellent for an hour on the right wing, sending in four successful crosses, one of which was headed home by Yussuf Poulsen to make it 2-0 midway through the half.
Poulsen would return the favour to his team-mate 13 minutes later, reversing a pass back from the line for Sabitzer to guide a gorgeous right-footed finish into the top right corner, despite having numerous bodies in which to navigate his shot through ahead of him.
In total, he sent 24 passes into the final third, but worked extremely hard, too, making 10 ball recoveries.
Poulsen put in a typically selfless performance against Mainz, recording two assists as well as a goal for himself.
His goal came 23 minutes in when he rose above everyone inside the box to slam a header beyond the keeper after the aforementioned cross from Sabitzer.
Then, he turned provider for his team-mates, setting up Sabitzer before then assisting the fifth for Werner with a high pass in behind the Mainz defence.
Mainz had trouble dealing with him, as he won 9/13 duels and 4/5 aerial duels.
Hertha made it two wins on the bounce and seven goals in two games with an impressive 4-0 win versus Union Berlin in the derby.
Dedryck Boyata was key to the win as not only did he get on the scoresheet, scoring the fourth 13 minutes before full time with a brave header, but he was commanding at the back too.
He won 100% of his duels (3/3), 100% of his aerial duels (2/2), and 100% of his tackles (1/1), as well as making five ball recoveries, four interceptions, and three clearances.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Just missing out on the top five is Vedad Ibisevic (8.9), who scored one and set up another in Hertha's destruction of their city rivals.
ROUND TO FORGET
Eintracht Frankfurt central defender Stefan Ilsanker (4.7) really didn't have a great time against Bayern, conceding five goals. He was simply overran by the Bayern frontline, failing to win a single tackle, while managing only 1/4 aerial duels won and 3/6 ground duels won.