RB Leipzig won the top game in the Bundesliga against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday evening. Nevertheless, the Saxons mourn.
With a 2-0 home win (1-0) against Borussia Mönchengladbach, RasenBallsport Leipzig underlined its Champions League ambitions in the Bundesliga. Coach Marco Rose’s team is still in fifth place in the Europa League after the success, but has reduced the gap to Borussia Dortmund (4th place) to just one point.
Xavi Simons gave the hosts the lead with a fantastic volley in the first half (14′). Loïs Openda scored the preliminary decision with a lob in the second half, which was no less impressive (57th).
The game was overshadowed by a tragic incident in the stands. A Leipzig supporter had to be resuscitated in the first half. Shortly after the restart, the club announced that the fan had died in the stadium.
That’s how the game went
The Leipzig team, wearing a special black jersey with a flame design and the words “Leipzig on fire” on their necks, started strongly: After 72 seconds, Yussuf Poulsen had the lead after Dani Olmo’s through ball, but lobbed the ball over the goal from six meters . Marco Rose, who broke the 100-point mark as RB coach with the win against the former club, this time relied on Poulsen instead of Benjamin Šeško in the attack. He also brought in Amadou Haidara in defensive midfield.
Afterwards it became unusually quiet in the stadium. The approximately 3,500 visiting fans held back their support “since a member of the fan scene died in a traffic accident,” Borussia announced on Platform X during the game. The Leipzig team were mostly quiet shortly after kick-off because a person in the stadium had to be resuscitated, as RB also announced on X. During the half-time break, the stadium announcer announced the sad news that “unfortunately the fan has died”. There was only occasional applause during the game.
The players tried to concentrate on sports. In the 13th minute, Dani Olmo tested guest goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas with a shot from 13 meters, who parried brilliantly. Shortly afterwards the goalkeeper was powerless. Xavi Simons skillfully received the ball with his thigh and scored his sixth goal of the season from 14 meters to take the lead in the 14th minute. Then Nicolas again prevented Leipzig from making it 2-0 when he saved a Simons shot (19th) from ten meters.
After just 23 minutes, Rose was forced to make a substitution because Lukas Klostermann apparently suffered a muscle injury in his right thigh. Mohamed Simakan came for him. On the other hand, Gladbach’s coach Gerardo Seoane had to do without Alassane Pléa (bruised bone) and Florian Neuhaus (muscular problems) before kick-off. Overall, the Borussia defense was stable and initially allowed little apart from conceding a goal. And when he did, Nicolas saved, like against Openda (40th), who was, however, offside.
After the substitution, the Gladbachers sent a signal of caution with a header from Jordan (52nd) – but the ball just missed. Otherwise, RB goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi had little to do. Gladbach combined well, but there was a lack of accuracy when it came to the last pass or when finishing.
On the other side, Nicolas was overthrown by Openda (57th) after he started free after a strong pass. The linesman raised the flag, but the video assistant took corrective action – the goal, Openda’s 16th of the season, counted.
After about an hour, Rose Šeško came on for Poulsen and Nicolas Seiwald for Haidara. Gladbach also tried to provide fresh impetus with Marvin Friedrich. Šeško (73′) then had the chance to make it 3-0, but the strong Nicolas was there with a reflexive foot save.