Bayern pursuer
©IMAGO
Thanks to a dream goal from new national player Assan Ouédraogo, coach Ole Werner celebrated a victory with RB Leipzig against his former club Werder Bremen. The Saxons won against Werder 2-0 (0-0) and regained second place in the Bundesliga table. It was Bremen’s first defeat after five unbeaten games in a row, meaning Werder remains in eighth place.
In front of 47,800 fans in the sold-out Red Bull Arena, Ouédraogo put Leipzig in the lead with a remarkable long-range goal (63′). After a corner, the Austrian Xaver Schlager increased the score to 2-0 (80th). The fans of RB, who are not particularly in the ultra range, protested before the interior ministers’ conference starting on December 3rd in Bremen, which is about security in German arenas, with a large banner in their corner with the inscription: “Against your security madness – the stadiums are safe!”. The supporters spoke out against the planned measures such as personalized tickets and facial recognition. The Werder curve raised the question: “Should this be the future of football?” When the RB fans started their songs after three minutes, there were whistles from the Bremen block, which had been silent for twelve minutes.
Werner had to make some changes because striker Rômulo was unable to play after a tendon injury in his right knee. Conrad Harder made his starting eleven debut. In addition, Castello Lukeba moved back into the back four for the injured El Chadaille Bitshiabu (muscle injury). Bremen coach Horst Steffen only brought on Cameron Puertas for Justin Njinmah compared to the 2-1 win against Wolfsburg.
Ouédraogo and Schlager decide the game for RB Leipzig
Leipzig was immediately there offensively, but failed in a row due to the strong Werder goalkeeper Mio Backhaus, who was there first against Antonia Nusa (5th), then with a low shot from Ouédraogo (32nd) from 20 meters and was able to clear the ball for a corner. The young national player Ouédraogo (38th) then narrowly missed from a similar position. Seconds later, Christoph Baumgartner shot from close range straight into the arms of Backhaus, then he clawed a deflected Baumgartner shot straight from the corner in stoppage time in the first half.
The Leipzig team had previously argued with referee Martin Petersen after Baumgartner (26′) was knocked off his feet by Karim Coulibaly in a collision in the penalty area. Petersen refused a penalty whistle. Leipzig pushed Bremen completely into their own half. Werder didn’t have a direct shot on the RB goal. During the break on the streaming service “DAZN”, sports director Clemens Fritz struggled with the “accuracy of the pass, especially when we come towards the opponent’s half”.
After the change, Peter Gulacsi had to stretch for the first time after a shot from Puertas (51′) at the near corner. Suddenly Werder was there. When Jens Stage was sent steeply and ran directly towards the RB goal, Yan Diomande (59th) made the perfect tackle in the penalty area and saved. Seconds later, Marco Grüll scratched Baumgartner’s ball off the line for Bremen. Then Backhaus and Bremen were powerless: Ouédraogo (63′) curled the ball from 20 meters straight into the corner to take the lead – in the middle of a Bremen pressure phase. Gulacsi then saved from Romano Schmid (70th). Bremen then celebrated the equalizer, but Keke Topp (71′) was offside, as the VAR confirmed. Instead, Schlager made the preliminary decision in the final phase when he scored from close range after a corner.