13th matchday
“Do something with your head”: Leipzig wins and is annoyed
Leipzig prevailed at home against Heidenheim. photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
Confident, but unnecessarily brief. After the win against Heidenheim, the professionals from RB Leipzig are not entirely happy.
After some time of deliberation, Xaver Schlager finally found the right comparison.
“It’s like constantly studying and still coming home with an five. That just doesn’t feel good,” said the RB Leipzig midfielder. What upset the Austrians after the 2-1 win against 1. FC Heidenheim was the unnecessary goal conceded by Benedikt Gimber in stoppage time in the first half.
Thanks to Loïs Openda (29th/foul penalty) and Yussuf Poulsen (44th), Leipzig had gained a well-deserved lead with a dominant performance. Then the defense lost track of a corner – and the game became unnecessarily exciting. “It’s not a good feeling when you realize the opponent isn’t playing well, has a chance and the ball is in,” said Schlager. “It does something to your head.”
In the end, Leipzig was actually lucky that Gimber hastily finished the great chance for his second goal deep in stoppage time and chased the ball into the cold evening sky. In front of 44,887 fans, Leipzig remained unbeaten against promoted teams in its Bundesliga history.
Xavi Simons is fit again in time
Only Leipzig’s Poulsen remained from the first duels between the two teams in the 2013/14 third division season. However, the focus of the Leipzig team was on another player. The difference player
Driven by the Dutch international, Leipzig initially dominated the game and was looking for an early lead. Heidenheim’s coach Frank Schmidt tried to absorb the pressure with a more defensive formation. The US international Lennard Maloney moved back from defensive midfield to the center of the five-man chain.
However, Leipzig didn’t let that bother them. After just two minutes, Openda, who scored twice in Manchester, had taken the lead. However, the Belgian international striker shot over the goal from six meters. Three minutes later, FCH goalkeeper Kevin Müller made a great save against Poulsen. The Dane seemed liberated after his goal in the 1-2 win in Wolfsburg, but the precision in the finish was still lacking.
Pieringer misses a great opportunity
And Heidenheim? Suddenly had a great chance to take the lead. Marvin Pieringer (14th) appeared completely free in front of the Leipzig goal, but put his header just wide of the goal without any pressure. Then Heidenheim helped. Norman Theuerkauf caught Openda off his feet in the penalty area and the 23-year-old safely converted the penalty.
Afterwards, the game became a little flat before it became really confusing shortly before halftime. David Raum asserted himself strongly on the left wing and fed Poulsen – and he had better luck this time. His attempt rolled through Müller’s legs and into the goal. Preliminary decision, one thought. But after a corner in stoppage time, Gimber was there and completely unexpectedly shortened the score.
However, that didn’t upset Leipzig. Christoph Baumgartner (47th) wanted to restore the old distance with a lob over Müller. The keeper held, but the ball landed at Poulsen’s feet. This time the Dane was too indecisive in front of the empty goal and made a mistake. RB pushed for the third goal, but like Xaver Schlager’s shot (55th) into the side netting, there was a lack of precision.
As the game became increasingly flat, RB coach Marco Rose brought two new impulses from the bench in Emil Forsberg and Benjamin Sesko. In his first action, Forsberg served Openda (78′), but he failed to hit the post from a tight angle.