Having seen Bayern record a 5-0 win at Stuttgart earlier in the day, Leipzig knew they needed to provide a response, and they made the perfect start with only five minutes on the clock.
Christoph Baumgartner’s lofted pass over the top found Conrad Harder inside the area, and the striker beat goalkeeper Michael Zetterer to the ball and coolly nodded it over him and into the net to open the scoring.
The visitors steadied themselves after this early setback, and they came agonisingly close to drawing level just after the half-hour mark when Mahmoud Dahoud’s first-time effort from 25 yards crashed against the crossbar.
Then, from the resulting counter-attack, the hosts rubbed salt into the wound as Harder advanced to the byline and returned the favour by squaring the ball to Baumgartner, who had the simple task of tapping into an empty net from a matter of yards.
The Austrian thought he had found the net for a second time shortly after, but the VAR adjudged that he had just strayed offside prior to diverting a cross.
The game was still in the balance as the second half got underway, but less than two minutes after the restart, Leipzig took firm control of the contest.
With some teammates appealing for a penalty for a foul on Antonio Nusa, the ball broke free, and Yan Diomande was in the right place to direct it home to make it 3-0.
Things very nearly got even worse for the visitors five minutes later, but their blushes were spared as Nusa’s powerful effort from distance crashed against the right post.
Just three minutes later, however, it was 4-0 as Diomande’s left-footed effort from just outside the area found the bottom left-hand corner.
With almost half an hour still left to play, there was plenty of time for the situation to get even worse for Die Adler, and they conceded twice more to round off a thoroughly disappointing night.
First, they gave away a penalty after Hugo Larsson handled the ball inside the area, with David Raum converting from the spot, before Diomande raced onto a through ball from Nicolas Seiwald before rounding Zetterer to complete his hat-trick.
This commanding victory sees Leipzig remain eight points behind Bayern, while Frankfurt’s progress has been severely checked as they remain seventh and a point off the European places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig)
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