Goal comeback for Timo Werner, but RB Leipzig struggles: In the heated debut of his star returnee, the cup winner missed the first win of the new Bundesliga season. Against 1. FC Köln it was only enough for the Saxons to draw 2:2 (1:1) in a game with some controversial situations, despite Werner’s opening goal (36th).
While RB star player Christopher Nkunku (56th) scored for the hosts who had been outnumbered for a long time, Cologne’s Florian Dietz (40th) and Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol (72nd) equalized twice with an own goal.
In injury time in the first half, RB noble technician Dominik Szoboszlai (45 + 1) saw the red card because of an elbow blow. After the 1-1 draw at VfB Stuttgart last week, Leipzig has to wait for the first three.
Although Werner had only trained with the team for three days after the announcement of his move from Chelsea, there were already indications of a starting eleven, according to coach Domenico Tedesco he was “directly an option” thanks to the preparation at Chelsea – which the coach resorted to.
Werner stormed from the start with Christopher Nkunku, although access took some time to warm up.
First Leipzig goal called back
Others caused the first excitement. After strong preliminary work by David Raum, Dani Olmo (9th) flicked the ball from the edge of the penalty area into the goal for the supposed lead. According to the video images, referee Benjamin Brand dismissed the goal with some delay, as Raum had previously put the ball past his opponent with his hand.
Werner was also in the air for a long time in the first round. He was allowed to shine briefly once when he hung up a pass for Nkunku (15th) and he pushed it in for the next RB goal – but was clearly offside. But then Schwäbe gave a lot of help. Alluded to by Benjamin Henrichs, Werner pulled from 25 meters without much pressure. The harmless shot slipped cleanly through Schwäbe’s arms.
Nkunku first pathetic, then freezing
Shortly thereafter, Nkunku (40th) should have raised when the Frenchman appeared free in front of Schwäbe, but the goalkeeper cleared. Lucky for Cologne, who also played well in the second game without Anthony Modeste, who had moved to Borussia Dortmund. Again and again they courageously pushed into the penalty area – and were rewarded just before the break when Dietz scrambled the ball over the line.
During the break, the Tedesco team rallied after the red card against Szoboszlai and struck coldly. With the first really dangerous situation, Olmo sent Nkunku low, who ran away from his captors and easily converted. But it got exciting again. Gvardiol, who came on after half-time, involuntarily pushed a corner from Kainz over the line.