Adams: "We want to win the Bundesliga"

The 21-year-old played from start to finish for Julian Nagelsmann's side in a 3-0 triumph at Hertha Berlin as Die Roten Bullen capitalised on Bayern’s 2-1 defeat to in-form Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

Leipzig trailed Bayern by seven points at the start of the month, but whereas the defending champions drew with Bielefeld last week and slipped up against Frankfurt, Nagelsmann’s charges gained ground with successes against Augsburg and now Hertha.

Watch: Highlights of Leipzig's win over Hertha

Adams has featured in both of those games, and even provided the assist for Nordi Mukiele to lash in Leipzig's vital second goal against Hertha, sandwiched between efforts from Marcel Sabitzer and Willi Orban.

"For me when you come to a club like this, and we have such a young team, we want to win trophies," the 12-time USA international told bundesliga.com after the final whistle.

"We have big ambitions as a club and obviously winning a Bundesliga title is one of those goals. So we're close right now, but there are still so many games to play so we have to stay focused."

Watch: Adams: "The Bundesliga title is one of our goals"

Leipzig are still in three competitions this term, with a DFB Cup quarter-final fixture against Wolfsburg and the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Liverpool coming up in March.

But the focus, for now, remains firmly on the Bundesliga and preventing Bayern from lifting an unprecedented ninth consecutive league title.

"Obviously we're pleased that we closed the gap on Bayern to two points again," said Nagelsmann. "A few of the other teams up there also won, so it was all the more important that we picked up all three points today."

There are undoubtedly many more twists to come before the season is over, but Bayern’s visit to Leipzig on Matchday 27 in early April is increasingly looking like a decisive juncture in the title race.