Second for one night: RB Leipzig continued their comeback under Marco Rose with a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen.
Marco Rose hugged each player with a satisfied smile on his face, then the RB Leipzig coach watched the team’s celebration from a little distance before the away block: After the 2-1 (1-0) win at Werder Bremen, the Saxons were in the best of moods – And with good reason. At least for one night, RB climbed to second place and continued the strong recovery under Rose.
“We’ve had such a run now that you’d like to play through the season,” said Leipzig’s strong goalkeeper Jens Blaswich after 13 competitive games in a row without defeat. Then Rose, who took over Leipzig from Domenico Tedesco in eleventh place in September, gathered all his players in the dressing room.
Andre Silva used the first real chance of the game to take the lead with a well-placed right-footed shot from Emil Forsberg (13′). In the 57th minute, Christian Groß scored in the right angle to equalize – it was the 33-year-old’s first Bundesliga goal. But the joy didn’t last long, Xaver Schlager scored the second goal for the guests (71st).
Werder, who had wildly cheered the nomination of striker Niclas Füllkrug for the upcoming big event in Qatar, missed the icing on the cake to an excellent first phase of the season and is firmly in midfield with 21 points. “We deserved something today,” said Füllkrug: “All in all, our year was good and successful.”
Werder Bremen: Filling pitcher misses a huge opportunity
The number one topic of conversation before kick-off was the filling pitcher, which national coach Hansi Flick had called into his squad for the controversial tournament, which Werder fans criticized with posters without having played an international game. The massive striker, who recently scored in the home wins against Schalke and Hertha, was given special applause before kick-off and should give his team wings against the in-form Saxons. But the guests obviously had something against it.
Leipzig combined quickly, but also with patience, the hosts wanted to counter from a densely staggered defence. When the chance arose after a slight mistake by Werder defender Anthony Jung, Forsberg quickly bridged the available space and initiated the lead.
In the second period, Leipzig had the opportunity to increase through Christopher Nkunku (51st), but the top striker missed and Werder stayed on. The game picked up speed again. Leipzig reacted strongly to the equalizer and immediately put the pressure back on. Schlager finally rewarded the efforts.
Werder Bremen – RB Leipzig: The voices
Ole Werner (Werder Bremen coach): “We played with too much respect and too many simple mistakes for the first half hour. After that, it was a good performance from my team at times. It’s a shame that we weren’t lucky enough to get a ball in front of our feet in the penalty area overall it was a very positive first half of the year.”
Marco Rose: (RB Leipzig coach): “It was the difficult game we expected against strong opponents. I think we did well in the first half and deservedly took the lead. The second half was very open. My lads reacted very well to the equaliser. We were out from behind we defended it with all the grains that were still in it. We are happy and happy about the victory.”
