The hosts were almost off to the perfect start when Benjamin Sesko put the ball in the net inside the first minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
The striker then scored 18 minutes later, as he out-jumped Kevin Trapp to head home after the goalkeeper saved Xaver Schlager’s initial shot.
Sesko rounded Trapp moments later and could have netted a quickfire double, but the German recovered to stop his effort. From the resulting corner, Trapp was on hand again to deny Lois Openda this time, as the Belgian’s half-volley had to be palmed away.
Frankfurt were dominated for the first half-an-hour, but Hugo Larsson had a chance to equalise against the run of play, only for Maarten Vandevoort to parry his side-footed strike.
After scoring from his previous two free-kicks, Omar Marmoush then tried his luck with another from a difficult angle, but he was so unlucky as the ball curled off the crossbar.
The visitors did find an equaliser before half-time though, as Nathaniel Brown latched onto Can Uzun’s delightful flick before firing a lethal drive in off the far post.
The second half promised to be as exciting as the first when Openda was on the end of another corner, this time volleying Leipzig back in front after the ball dropped down nicely for him.
He was clean through just a couple of minutes later, but shot straight into Trapp’s arms from an acute angle. Frankfurt hit back though and almost equalised again when Marmoush was agonisingly close to connecting with Arthur Theate’s scuffed effort from the edge of the box.
Kevin Kampl threatened to put the result beyond doubt for Leipzig in the latter stages, but Trapp kept his team in the match with yet another crucial stop after pushing the midfielder’s shot away, while.
The hosts still managed a win that now puts them level on points with their opponents in the league table, while the Eagles ultimately slumped to their seventh away defeat in 11 meetings.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lois Openda (RB Leipzig)
