VfL Bochum suffered their seventh Bundesliga defeat of the season at RB Leipzig. It was a frustrating start for coach Thomas Letsch.
It became apparent relatively quickly that Letsch had chosen the wrong game for his premiere as a coach in the Bundesliga. Nine days after VfL Bochum iced him away from Vitesse Arnhem to hire him as Thomas Reis’ successor, there were many early signs of his first defeat at RB Leipzig.
National player Timo Werner gave the hosts the lead in the 15th minute – the goal was the result of a powerful opening phase by Leipzig. Werner had previously hit the post (7th) and André Silva just missed the VfL goal (14th).
Leipzig’s Timo Werner scores a goal
Leipzig has no problems with the RB style
Letsch, who has a past at RB Salzburg, tried it with his Bochumers in RB-style, but the Leipzigers always freed themselves relatively easily from the offensive pressing of the still winless bottom of the table. This also resulted in the 2-0: Jannes Horn fouled Christopher Nkunku in his own penalty area and the Frenchman converted the penalty himself (22nd).
Overall it was a one-sided first half, Leipzig had more than 70 percent possession of the ball, the goal shot ratio of 8:0 underlined the superior first 45 minutes. RB showed again that they are back in good shape at home, under Marco Rose there was also a 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund – but away there are still problems, as the 0-3 before the international break in Gladbach showed.
The players of VfL Bochum are disappointed
Nkunku cannot imitate Werner for the time being
But Bochum now got the full home power of Leipzig. Only a few minutes after the restart, Werner was there again. After a shot at the post by Silva, the striker made it 3-0 (53 ‘) and made the decision early.
However, RB did not spare Bochum, who had lost six out of seven games so far. The current cup winners continued to besiege the opposing penalty area and forced VfL to make mistakes. Marcel Halstenberg provoked the second penalty kick – but this time Nkunku only shot the post (64th).
Nkunku is still the final point
Shortly thereafter, Manuel Riemann prevented Werner’s third goal twice (68’/71′), a little later Ivan Ordets fouled Nkunku and a third penalty could have been awarded, but referee Florian Badstübner decided against a whistle (75′). .
However, the 4:0 fell – and Nkunku succeeded. After a through ball from Emil Forsberg, he didn’t give Riemann a chance (85′). The good news for VfL Bochum and its new coach Letsch was that it was Leipzig’s last dangerous move.
“The conclusion is relatively simple. There are no two opinions either. We were inferior to the opponent in every respect“, said Letsch. “We have to look at ourselves. We gave the opponent far too much space and invited Leipzig to score goals. There could have been more.“
Leipzig first against Glasgow
Before the next task in everyday league life, Leipzig welcomes the Scottish representative in the Champions League Celtic Glasgow (Wednesday, October 5th, 2022 at 9 p.m.). In the Bundesliga, the Saxons are challenged away from home in Mainz (Saturday, October 8th, 2022 at 3.30 p.m.), while Bochum are hosting the Europa League winners from Frankfurt at the same time.