RB Leipzig is still looking for its game idea. It was only thanks to a strong final offensive that coach Jesse Marsch’s team came to an arduous 3-0 (0-0) work victory in the Bundesliga premiere duel with promoted VfL Bochum on Saturday evening. André Silva (69th minute) headed 36 seconds after his substitution in front of 25,598 spectators in the Leipzig arena for the lead, before Christopher Nkunku (73rd / 78th) increased with a brace. After the seventh matchday, the runner-up has ten points to make it into the European Cup, but continues to lag behind his ambitions.
The game started with an uproar: After Angeliño (4th) ran free to VfL goalkeeper Manuel Reis and rounded him, Erhan Masovic headed the ball off the line before Yussuf Poulsen was fouled on an overhead kick. Referee Robert Hartmann gave a penalty. But when Emil Forsberg was already getting to the point, the referee looked at the scene again and decided: no penalty. This spurred RB even more. Forsberg (8th) checked VfL goalkeeper Manuel Riemann, three minutes later the Swede slammed the ball against the post.
After the absence of defense chief Willi Orban (flu) due to illness, head coach Jesse Marsch still relied on the triple chain. “We try to work well against the ball, but also well with the ball,” said Marsch, who, despite the enormous fluctuations in performance, was again backed by CEO Oliver Mintzlaff. Although this criticized the past few weeks. “We are very, very dissatisfied with the yield and the lack of consistency.” But he also stated “that we had a very big upheaval”. Marsch get time “and we are still completely convinced that the path we took with Jesse is the right one.”
The RB fans whistle their team
But there is great uncertainty. Typical for this is the scene in the 29th minute: The last outstanding Nkunku ran free to Riemann, but instead of passing right to the also free Yussuf Poulsen, he shot himself and failed at the keeper.
Bochum almost took advantage of this hesitation. After RB lost the ball again after winning the ball, Bochum’s Antony Losilla (36th) almost slipped the ball into the goal for the lead. After that, the number of bad passes in the build-up game increased – the RB fans loudly acknowledged this with whistles. Marsch tried to exert an influence from the outside, urging his team to be more calm and serene with gestures.
After an hour, Marsch switched to a back four with the substitution of Nordi Mukile for Angeliño. That didn’t change anything in the weak and unimaginative play structure of RB. He then brought on Dominik Szoboszlai and striker Andre Silva for Forsberg and Poulsen. The reward followed from access Silva: With his first touch of the ball, the Portuguese headed a corner from Szoboszlai for the lead. That was liberating. A little later, Nkunku lifted the ball over Reimann twice. Now Matsch dared more, first brought Ilaix Moriba, who was signed by FC Barcelona.