22nd matchday
Leipzig (AP) – When the fans returned, RB Leipzig celebrated the jump to a place in the Champions League. With the 3:1 (1:0) against 1. FC Köln, the Saxons advanced to fourth place in the table. It is the runner-up’s best finish this season.
RB celebrated the fifth win in the sixth competitive game of 2022 together with 15,000 fans after only very few spectators were allowed in the last three months due to the corona restrictions.
Olmo: “We deserve it”
“It was a good game from us, a complete performance. It was against a direct competitor in terms of international places. In the end, it’s a deserved win, which helps us a lot in the table. You can see that we’ve made some steps in terms of control, positioning and possession of the ball,” Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi told the DAZN streaming service, and goalscorer Dani Olmo added: “I’m very happy with our performance. We deserve it.”
Christopher Nkunku with a fantastic free kick (25th minute), Olmo (54th) and Angeliño (57th) sealed the defeat of FC, who had not lost away from home since October 30, 2021. The return of their coach Steffen Baumgart, who gave full commitment on the sidelines again, did not help the Cologne team. “I love standing there on the edge,” Baumgart emphasized. The coach was recently absent due to a positive corona test. The Cologne goal by Tim Lemperle in injury time was not enough (90+1).
“We didn’t use the space in the first half. Unfortunately, we then got counterattacks. That’s bitter. We played well but didn’t take advantage of the chances to score,” said Cologne’s Salih Özcan, emphasizing: “We’re happy with our Season. We can build on that performance.”
Nkunku scores with a free kick, which is well worth seeing
Even if the result was clear, the Rhinelanders were by no means hopelessly inferior. FC stuck to their courageous route and tried to press the favorites from Leipzig early on. However, the team coached by Domenico Tedesco, thanks to their footballing class, managed to repeatedly overplay FC’s line of attack and thus came up with dangerous actions. In the 23rd minute, Nkunku was about to take the lead, but Ellyes Skhiri saved just before the line.
But two minutes later it happened. After a foul by Timo Hübers on Olmo, who was preferred to Emil Forsberg again, Nkunku put a spectacular free kick from 18 meters into the upper left corner of the goal. With a little more determination, Leipzig could have led higher at the break.
FC, on the other hand, lacked penetrating power. It may also have been due to the failure of goalscorer Anthony Modeste, who was ill. The Frenchman has scored 14 of Cologne’s 33 goals so far and was difficult to replace with Sebastian Andersson.
In the second round, RB gave the Cologne team a little control of the game and then struck ice cold. Olmo put the ball in with a shot from 20 meters out and scored his first goal of the season. Angeliño set the tone shortly after, completing a squeaky clean counterattack via Nkunku and Olmo. Further proof that the people of Leipzig are implementing Tedesco’s system, who replaced the hapless Jesse Marsch in December, better and better. Even during his successful time at Schalke, Tedesco’s team at the time impressed with their merciless efficiency.