Hoffenheim crush Leverkusen as Kramarić makes history

One thousand Bundesliga goals, and the one that brought up the number came from the man who had already scored the 500th. Andrej Kramarić's 79th-minute penalty finally broke Bayer Leverkusen's resistance at the Prezero Arena, and 1899 Hoffenheim went on to win 3–0. No one in Sinsheim will forget the finale in a hurry.

The scoreline only tells part of the story. Within eleven minutes of the milestone, Hoffenheim scored a goal Leverkusen protested bitterly. The scorer was then sent off for taking off his shirt, and Loïc Badé left the pitch on a stretcher after a clash of heads. It was a historic afternoon for the home side, and a deeply uncomfortable one for everyone in the ground.

Leverkusen keep the ball while Hoffenheim keep shooting

For most of the match this was an even, attritional contest. It was played in heavy rain in front of 27,378 spectators. Both clubs had rotated after midweek Europa League wins, and Leverkusen lost Moussa Diaby before half-time to a thigh muscle problem. The interval arrived goalless.

It also brought an unusual change of officials. Referee Daniel Siebert was forced off at half-time with a calf injury and swapped roles with fourth official Robert Hartmann. That meant Hartmann took charge of a second half that would demand far more of him than anyone could have imagined at 0–0.

The numbers describe a strange shape. Leverkusen had 58% of the ball, yet Hoffenheim took 20 shots to their 9 and put six on target against Leverkusen's one. Carles Martínez's side circulated possession without seriously testing the Hoffenheim goal. Christian Ilzer's team gave up the ball and kept asking questions anyway.

Even so, the national press judged the first 80 minutes as evenly matched and the final margin as flattering. What decided the afternoon was not control but the closing stretch, when Leverkusen lost their defensive composure entirely.

Kramarić converts the penalty that brings up Hoffenheim's 1,000th

The breakthrough began with a VAR intervention in the 77th minute. Edmond Tapsoba caught Fisnik Asllani on the ankle inside the box. Hartmann went to the pitchside monitor, and the review confirmed the penalty.

Kramarić stroked it low into the net in the 79th minute. The finish was composed and unfussy, and it was historic: the 1,000th Bundesliga goal in Hoffenheim's history. He had also scored the club's 500th. Half of Hoffenheim's entire top-flight scoring record lies between those two goals, and Kramarić stands at both ends of it.

The goal also changed the problem Leverkusen had been working on all afternoon. Patient possession had kept the game level. Now, with time running out, it had to produce goals, and that was something it had not threatened to do.

Badé collision and Prass red card upend the finale

The match turned in the 89th minute. Badé and Max Moerstedt clashed heads in midfield, and Leverkusen's players paused, expecting a stoppage. Hartmann let play continue.

Hoffenheim broke. Kramarić found Alexander Prass, who drove the ball into the net from around 16 metres to make it 2–0. Leverkusen protested furiously, but the goal stood.

Then Prass dealt his own side a blow. He pulled off his shirt in celebration, having forgotten he had already been booked in the 45th minute. He realised almost at once, cut the celebration short and hurried to pull the shirt back on. Hartmann showed him a second yellow card regardless. It was Prass's second league goal of the season in only his third appearance, and it came with an early exit attached.

The mood in the stadium changed completely as Badé lay unresponsive. He needed prolonged treatment on the pitch before being carried off on a stretcher. With all their substitutions already made, Leverkusen finished the match with ten men, the same number as Hoffenheim.

The third goal still came in the 90th minute. Kramarić chipped from an acute angle and the ball rebounded off the crossbar. Moerstedt, who had been involved in the earlier collision, was lurking to tap it into the empty net from close range.

Hoffenheim gather momentum as Leverkusen's run ends

For Ilzer, the result completes three victories in eight days. It is being read nationally as an emphatic turnaround after a dreadful start to the season. Hoffenheim sit 10th on 9 points and have scored in each of their last 7 league games, 14 goals in all.

This fixture keeps going their way, too. Among the recent meetings in our records, this is a third straight win over Leverkusen. It follows a 1–0 in Sinsheim in January and a 2–1 away in August 2025.

For Martínez, it is a reality check and a missed opportunity. The defeat ended a run of 5 league games without a loss. For the first time in the Bundesliga this season, both Leverkusen and Patrik Schick failed to score. Leverkusen stay 4th on 13 points, and the result denied them a chance to move up to second.

The table will keep. Hoffenheim will remember this as the afternoon their 1,000th Bundesliga goal arrived, scored by the man who also scored their 500th. For Leverkusen, the first concern leaving Sinsheim is not the standings but Badé.