Football Bundesliga
Leipzig’s Werner celebrates against his former club Bremen – RB remains Bayern’s first chaser
RB Leipzig ran against Werder Bremen in vain. Then the guests from the north dared to attack more – and the Saxons attacked as cold as ice.
Thanks to a dream goal from new national team player Assan Ouédraogo, coach Ole Werner celebrated the victory with RB Leipzig against his former club Werder Bremen. The Saxons won against Werder 2-0 (0-0) and returned to second place in the Bundesliga table. It was Bremen’s first defeat after five consecutive unbeaten matches, leaving Werder still in eighth place.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 47,800 at the Red Bull Arena, Ouédraogo put Leipzig ahead with a superb long-range goal (63rd minute). After a corner kick, Austrian Xaver Schlager made it 2-0 (80).
RB fans protest against “security madness”
RB supporters, who are not quite in the ultra camp, staged a protest before the interior ministers’ conference starting on December 3 in Bremen, about security at German arenas, with a large banner in the corner reading: “Against your security madness – the stadium is safe!”. Proponents oppose planned measures such as personalized ticketing and facial recognition.
The Werder curve begs the question: “Should this be the future of football?” When the RB fans started their song after three minutes had passed, there was a whistle from the Bremen block which had been silent for twelve minutes.
Werner had to make several changes as striker Rômulo was unable to play after rupturing a tendon in his right knee. Conrad Harder made his debut as a starter. Additionally, Castello Lukeba returns to the back four for the injured El Chadaille Bitshiabu (muscle injury). Bremen coach Horst Steffen only included Cameron Puertas for Justin Njinmah in the 2-1 win against Wolfsburg.
Werder Bremen’s backhaus prevented them from falling behind early on
Leipzig immediately attacked, but failed in a row because Werder’s strong goalkeeper, Mio Backhaus, was there first against Antonia Nusa (5), then with a low shot from Ouédraogo (32) from 20 meters and was able to clear the ball for a corner kick. Youth national player Ouédraogo (38) then narrowly missed a shot from a similar position. Seconds later, Christoph Baumgartner shot from close range straight into Backhaus’ arms, then he clawed at Baumgartner’s deflected shot straight from the corner in stoppage time in the first half.
The Leipzig team previously had an argument with referee Martin Petersen after Baumgartner (26′) was brought down by Karim Coulibaly in a collision in the penalty box. Petersen rejected the penalty whistle. Leipzig pushed Bremen completely into their own territory. Werder did not fire a direct shot at RB’s goal. During a break on streaming service DAZN, sports boss Clemens Fritz struggled with “passing accuracy, especially when we approached the opponent’s defensive area”.
Ouédraogo gave RB Leipzig the lead
After the substitution, Peter Gulacsi had to stretch for the first time after Puertas’ shot (51′) in the near corner. Suddenly Werder was there. When Jens Stage was sent sharply and ran straight towards RB’s goal, Yan Diomande (59) made a perfect tackle in the penalty area and saved. A few seconds later, Marco Grüll crossed Baumgartner’s ball from the Bremen goal line.
Then Backhaus and Bremen were helpless: Ouédraogo (63′) curled a shot from 20 meters into the corner to take the lead – amidst Bremen’s pressing phase. Gulacsi then saved Romano Schmid’s kick (70). Bremen then celebrated an equaliser, but Keke Topp (71′) was caught offside, as confirmed by VAR. Instead, Schlager made an early decision in the final phase when he scored from close range after a corner.
DPA
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