Leipzig win in Dortmund

In a game contested between two sides in the chasing pack, Leipzig beat Dortmund in an absorbing contest at Signal Iduna Park.

Dortmund were dealt an early blow with Mats Hummels' red card, which denied the visitors a penalty but they went on to take the lead in the 32nd minute through a Ramy Bensebaini own goal.

Ten-man Dortmund clawed their way back into the contest through Niklas Suele's close-range finish on the stroke of half-time - but Leipzig's Austrian forward Christoph Baumgartner tapped in to put Leipzig back in front early in the second half.

Yussuf Poulsen struck as the clock ticked into injury time to make it three goals and three points, keeping Leipzig fourth and opening a gap of four points to fifth-placed Dortmund, despite Niclas Fuellkrug's late header briefly giving Dortmund hope.

"These were important three points today. Very hard-earned. Really hard for the coach too. It's difficult to analyse emotionally," Marco Rose, formerly the coach of Dortmund, and now in charge of Leipzig, told 'ARD'.

 

December 9, 2023

A despondent Dortmund coach Edin Terzic referenced the red card for Hummels as the game's turning point: "It's not easy to play against RB Leipzig, especially when you're outnumbered. You saw that we got off to a really good start, were very dominant... after the red card it was a completely different game."

Terzic acknowledged that Dortmund, who have only one win in their last six Bundesliga games and slipped off the pace in the top four race, are going through a rough spell.

"It's a very difficult phase we're going through at the moment. It's not easy to answer similar questions on the microphone every three days."

Union Berlin won their first game since August 26 with a 3-1 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach ensuring a winning start in the Bundesliga under new coach Nenad Bjelica. The Croatian boss ran down the touchline to join the celebrations with his players as the team climbed to 15th.

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen arrested a four-game winless slump with a 2-0 win over Augsburg, secured by Niklas Stark's first-half strike and Marvin Ducksch's, midway through the second

Heidenheim edged out Darmstadt with a 3-2 win in a meeting of two of the newly-promoted strugglers. Jan Schoeppner scored twice for Heidenheim, which leaves Darmstadt winless in seven Bundesliga games.

 

December 9, 2023