After another underwhelming loss in midweek against VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund looked to get their season back on track against an RB Leipzig team who had been inconsistent as of late.
The early parts of the first half proved dramatic when Mats Hummels was sent off for talking Loïs Openda in a last-man situation. Leipzig would take the lead through a Ramy Bensebaini own goal. Leipzig continued to dominate the game until in Dortmund fashion, a Niklas Süle header equalised for Dortmund just before half-time.
In the second half, Leipzig dominated the game and were rewarded in the 54th minute when Christoph Baumgartner gave them the lead. Leipzig thought they secured the victory in the 91st minute when Yussuf Poulsen scored a third but Niclas Füllkrug set up a tense ending with a header two minutes later.
The win sends Leipzig four points clear of Dortmund in fourth and now only three points behind Bayern Munich in second place, while unless something changes dramatically after the winter break are condemning themselves to a fight for Champions League qualification.
Borussia Dortmund:
Gregor Kobel – 7 – Dortmund’s best player once again today, if it were not for his performance in goal, Leipzig would have run away with the win before Dortmund even had a sniff of getting back into the game.
Thomas Meunier – 4
Mats Hummels – 4
Nico Schlotterbeck – 5
Ramy Bensebaini – 4
Salih Özcan – 5
Emre Can – 5
Marco Reus – 5
Julian Brandt – 6
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens – – Unfairly subbed off when Hummels was subbed off, provides a different dynamic and playstyle to Reus and Brandt whilst also being in better form than the duo. This once again puts in doubt Terzic’s decision-making and tactical choices.
Niclas Füllkrug – 6
Others: Niklas Süle (6), Karim Adeyemi (5), Donyell Malen (-), Giovanni Reyna (-)
RB Leipzig:
Janis Blaswich – 6
Mohamed Simakan – 6
Lukas Klostermann – 6
Castello Lukeba – 7 – Solid performance after he returned from injury, Lukeba has comfortably integrated into the Leipzig team and upon the return of Willi Orban, Leipzig’s defence should greatly improve.
Benjamin Henrichs – 6
Amadou Haidara – 6
Xaver Schlager – 7
David Raum – 7
Xavi Simons – 6
Christoph Baumgartner – 7 – After struggling to initially break into the Leipzig team Baumgartner has found his feet in recent weeks and can compliment the duo of Simons and Openda.
Loïs Openda – 6
Others: Emil Forsberg (6), Yussuf Poulsen (6), Benjamin Seško (6), Kevin Kampl (-)
GGFN | Jack Meenan
