Domenico Tedesco celebrated a perfect debut as coach of RB Leipzig. In the first game under the new coach, the runner-up won against Borussia Mönchengladbach 4: 1 (2: 0) and after a clear and playfully convincing performance moved up to the international positions.
The former Schalke coach Tedesco was introduced on Thursday as the successor to Jesse Marsch – and brought fun football back to Leipzig.
Borussia, on the other hand, has to prepare for further debates about coach Adi Hütter. In Leipzig Mönchengladbach conceded the third defeat in a row, as most recently at the derby in Cologne (1: 4) and against SC Freiburg (0: 6), Gladbach acted extremely vulnerable defensively.
Josko Gvardiol (21st) gave Leipzig the well-deserved lead with his head. Andre Silva (33.) increased. Ramy Bensebaini still managed the interim connecting goal (88th) for Gladbach with an overhead kick, Christopher Nkunku (90th + 1) restored the old two-goal gap. Benjamin Henrichs (90. + 4) provided the final point.
In Leipzig, defense chief Willi Orban returned to the starting line-up after surviving the corona infection. Attacking player Dominik Szoboszlai, on the other hand, was initially only on the bench. Hütter left it with two changes compared to the debacle against Freiburg.
Leipzig was the better team from the start. With quick combinations in the center, RB created space for the quick outside players and came up with good opportunities early on. Konrad Laimer (7th) and Silva (10th) just missed. Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer would have been powerless.
After a quarter of an hour, the guests released themselves from the Leipzig pressure for a short period. Gladbach came better into the duels, shifted the game from their own half – and was countered. Christopher Nkunku ran up to Sommer alone, but threw the ball away at the end (19th). The overdue lead fell according to a standard: Gvardiol headed a sharp cross from Angelino from close range – Tedesco donated applause.
Gladbach struggled to react, but came completely out of the concept after conceding the second goal. The allocation was barely correct, Leipzig’s attackers had too much freedom when attacking. Nkunku (34th / 44th) and Silva (35th / 45th) should have raised. For Gladbach, the amount of the break was flattering.
After switching sides, little changed. Leipzig continued to dominate the game and exuded a lot of security. Gladbach didn’t think much and made some rough blunders. After a summer mistake, Silva hit the crossbar instead of the empty goal (52nd). Emil Forsberg (62nd) and Nkunku (74th) missed other top-class opportunities.
RB Leipzig – Borussia Mönchengladbach: The lineups
