With a 2-0 win against Dortmund, RB Leipzig has made it into the DFB Cup semi-finals. The win against harmless Borussia could have been higher.
RB Leipzig is in the semifinals of the DFB Cup. Coach Marco Rose’s team won the Bundesliga duel against Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at home. In the sold-out arena, Timo Werner (22nd) and Willi Orban (90th + 8th) scored the goals in front of around 47,000 fans
SC Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart had previously made it into the semi-finals. For Dortmund, the defeat after the knockout round in the Champions League is the next setback.
Leipzig with changed tactics, BVB without Bellingham
After three defeats without a goal of their own, RB Leipzig went into the game with a different tactical formation. Rose switched to a three-man defense with captain Willi Orban, Josko Gvardiol and Mohamed Simakan. National players Benjamin Henrichs and David Raum were used as attacking full-backs. On the offensive, Dani Olmo made his first start-up appearance since the end of January.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic used Donyell Malen in attack for Sébastien Haller, who was suffering from knee problems. Behind them, Marco Reus and Julian Brandt should provide creative moments. Terzic provided the biggest surprise in midfield. there Jude Bellginham got a break, Salih Özcan moved into the starting XI.
Leipzig gets going quickly
Leipzig set a rapid pace, Dortmund didn’t take place at the beginning. RB had chances every minute, but Konrad Laimer, Dani Olmo, Timo Werner, Benjamin Henrichs and Mohamed Simakan failed either to themselves or to BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
The black and yellow needed a good quarter of an hour to calm the game down a bit. But that didn’t mean they created their own chances. Leipzig were too fast, they put the opponent under pressure too early, they closed the pass routes too well – and Dortmund were visibly overwhelmed.
Well-deserved tour by Werner
The Leipzig leadership was logical and also fully deserved. In the 22nd minute Simakan got up on the right side and left Mats Hummels and played the ball in the middle to Werner, who couldn’t take it from six yards.
BVB reacted and accelerated their actions, but the hosts were not embarrassed. On the contrary. They kept playing forward. First Josko Gvardiol headed just wide of the goal, then Kobel saved first against Werner and then against Olmo.
Reus: “They ate us up”
In the 39th minute, Werner ran freely towards the Dortmund goal, but unselfishly put the ball on Laimer, who had run with him. Which he shouldn’t have done better, because the play failed. The first half was completely desolate from Dortmund’s point of view, with the narrow gap at the break, the harmless BVB, weak in the tackle, was well served. The creative forces Marco Reus and Julian Brandt were not to be seen, striker Donyell Malen was completely up in the air. Shot on goal ratio in the first half – 14:1 for RB. “They ate us up in the first half”Reus said on ZDF: “Then it got better, but of course what we showed is far too little.” Brandt thinks so too: “We were extremely lucky today that we even survived the first ten minutes by conceding a goal.”
BVB invests more, but not enough
In the second half, Terzic Youssoufa brought Moukoko on for Marius Wolf and played with a back three. The people of Leipzig first took a look at what the Dortmunders were up to. At least they played better. But Leipzig had the first chance, Olmo put the ball just past the right angle from the second row.
Overall, the second half was poorer in chances, but it got rougher and more hectic. This was mainly due to Dortmund, which invested significantly more. What remained was the playful superiority of Leipzig. Jude Bellingham’s substitution didn’t change that. Leipzig easily defended the few Dortmund chances. But it was exciting until the end. But only because RB failed to follow up with the 2-0. In the 78th minute, Kobel saved from a counterattack against Laimer, and shortly before the end substitute Andre Silva got bogged down in the penalty area.
Dortmund almost equalized in the frantic stoppage time, but Janis Blaswich fished in a Jamie Bynoe-Gittens shot from the corner. When Kobel went forward in the subsequent corner kick, Willi Orban put the ball into the empty goal during the Leipzig counterattack.
In the league now against Berlin
In the Bundesliga, Dortmund expects Union Berlin to play in the top game on Saturday (3.30 p.m.), Leipzig has to play Hertha BSC three hours later.