Leipzig rose seven points from Bayern Munich, who beat Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday 5-2 after losing two points to Freiburg last weekend.
Werner ended a period of four games without scoring and increased his league count to 24 goals, second only to 27th of Bayern Munich talisman Robert Lewandowski.
In truth it could have been worse for the threatened demotion of Mainz. Yussuf Poulsen lost a sitter after Werner passed in the first half and Christopher Nkunku pulled out the shot on his own when he is only the goalkeeper Florian Muller, also in the first half.
Poulsen, however, scored first.
He was not at all upset given their respective places in the standings, but since the German top division returned last week following a two-month stoppage, home teams in general have had a hard time playing without fans.
They won three out of 17 games, losing 10 times. Last Sunday, Schalke’s eighth place fell 3-0 at home against Augsburg, who had been in the top five.
Closed-door games are one of the measures applied to avoid mass gatherings.
On Tuesday, Borussia Dortmund’s second place hosts Bayern Munich in Der Klassiker in Germany.
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