Matchday 32: Two late goals: RB Leipzig narrowly defeated Werder

Marco Rose hugged each of his players, and the fans in the stands celebrated a splendid final sprint by RB Leipzig. With two late goals, the Saxons have underpinned their ambitions for the Champions League and fended off the attacks of the pursuers.

At the end of the 32nd matchday in the Bundesliga, RB won 2-1 (0-0) against SV Werder Bremen. “We need a little time, we’re broken too,” said winning goal scorer Dominik Szoboszlai on the DAZN streaming service and praised morale: “I’m really proud of the team.”

After Willi Orban equalized in the 87th minute, Szoboszlai scored the winning goal in the sixth minute of dramatic stoppage time. RB ultimately defended third place and has four points more than SC Freiburg in fifth place.

Leipzig’s Leonardo Bittencourt (70th) gave Bremen the lead in front of 47,069 fans after the first RB goal had been denied according to video evidence. “I don’t feel like losing games anymore. I didn’t have that today either.” With a win, Bremen would certainly have been saved. So they have five points ahead of the relegation rank. “I have no words for the last 15 minutes,” said Marco Friedl.

Leipzig without Olmo for a short time

Leipzig went into the game with a record of five wins from five home games against Werder, but without Dani Olmo. The Spaniard, who has been outstanding in recent weeks, complained of muscular problems. Since the 25-year-old is considered to have a history of injuries, coach Marco Rose didn’t take any risks. Instead, Emil Forsberg slipped into the starting XI.

That didn’t help the game at first. Leipzig determined what happened, but there was a lack of ideas and mental freshness near the goal. Only in the middle of the first half did the intensity increase. The sometimes technically unconvincing Timo Werner (20th) brilliantly took a long ball from Konrad Laimer with his left hand and lobbed it over Werder keeper Jiri Pavlenka with his right – but also just over the goal. The thing with Werder and Werner was not a close bond even before the game. The international striker had only scored one goal in 13 games against Bremen. He is only unsuccessful against ex-club Stuttgart.

Poor game until the break

A minute after Werner’s contribution, it was his best buddy Laimer’s turn. The rustic Austrian dribbled through the multi-legged Bremen defense, but his shot from a good ten meters was too well placed and no problem for Pavlenka. After that, the Leipzig game fell back into the old sluggishness.

Understandably, Werder only did what was necessary. Due to the enormously better goal difference compared to FC Schalke 04, who are in 16th place, one point would have been enough for 99.9 percent to stay up in the league. Defensively, Bremen was largely stable, although the guests had to accept the short-term absence of veteran Christian Groß in front of the defence. Because Werder didn’t want to and Leipzig couldn’t really do it, the game was tough.

Nkunku gate disallowed after video evidence

As if out of nowhere, Marvin Duksch (64th) finally had the Bremen lead on his foot. The 29-year-old ran cleverly into a pass from Mitchell Weiser in the five-meter area, came to the ball with his toe. Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich saved with a reflex. Two minutes later Christopher Nkunku redeemed RB with his goal – but referee Florian Badstübner did not give the goal after video evidence. In front of the goal, the referee saw a foul by Mohamed Simakan on Bittencourt.

Ironically, it was the native of Leipzig who took care of Werder’s leadership. The 29-year-old snuck into the penalty area from the right after a throw-in, was completely free and threw the ball into the corner. On the other side, Nkunku (77′) was initially denied by Pavlenka, who once again brilliantly parried. Orban did better with a header from Nkunku. In the dramatic final phase with seven minutes of stoppage time, Bremen then scored again through Eren Dinkci – but it was offside. Unlike the goal of Leipzig.