VfL Bochum – RB Leipzig 1: 0: Masovic! Big point for Bochum

After the Champions League debacle at Manchester City, RB Leipzig also slipped badly in the Bundesliga. At VfL Bochum, threatened with relegation, the cup winners were again beaten 1-0.

Dominik Szoboszlai kept hitting the side walls of the RB Leipzig box in a rage, his coach Marco Rose debated with the fourth official long after the final whistle – it didn’t help: the cup winner had to after the debacle in the Champions League at Manchester City (0 :7) through the 0:1 (0:0) at relegation candidate VfL Bochum immediately accept the next blow in the neck.

In the race to return to the premier class, the Saxons could still mourn the lost points in the final statement. Bochum, on the other hand, gained some breathing room after two home defeats in a row with the winning goal from Erhan Masovic (48th) and thanks to his outstanding goalkeeper Manuel Riemann.

“The 0:7 didn’t matter, we were well prepared for Bochum. The defeat is bitter because the opponent was only ahead once after a throw-in and we had many chances,” commented RB keeper Janis Blaswich on the Sky microphone first competitive bankruptcy of his team against Westphalia. However, Blaswich still sees his team’s Champions League chances as intact: “The league is not over yet.”

In the Bochum camp, on the other hand, there was naturally pure joy. “The points are worth their weight in gold for us at the moment, like every point,” said technical director Marc Lettau and analyzed: “We played passionately, that was the basis for everything, also because Manu Riemann showed a sensational performance.”

RB Leipzig with more ball possession in Bochum

The Leipzig team had tried to develop their combination game from the start, but initially couldn’t cope with Bochum’s duel at all. VfL, on the other hand, barely managed to bring their fast wingers Takuma Asano and Christopher Antwi-Adjei into play. So it took until the 22nd minute before Timo Werner got the first shot on goal, but it clearly missed his target.

A free kick from Szoboszlai well over the goal (33′) was the second, equally harmless goal for the guests. Bochum defended with concentration, didn’t leave much room and won most of the duels. Leipzig tried many times via Marcel Halstenberg and Werner on the left, but without success. With 66 percent possession of the ball, the cup winner couldn’t buy anything at half-time – there hadn’t been any real chances to score until then.

Masovic scored the goal of the day for Bochum

Shortly after the restart it got even worse for the favorites: After a header extension by Philipp Hofmann, Blaswich parried an Asano header, but then Masovic headed in – it was VfL’s first Bundesliga goal against RB in the fourth duel.

Leipzig responded with increased but fruitless attack efforts. Bochum continued to win the decisive duels. In the final stages, Riemann prevented the equalizer several times, and the hosts also had luck on their side in added time when Szoboszlai hit the post.

VfL Bochum – RB Leipzig: The data for the game

Bochum: Riemann – Stafylidis, Ordets, Masovic, Soares (58th Heintz) – Losilla – Osterhage (87th Lampropoulos), Stöger (69th Förster) – Asano (69th Kunde Malong) – Antwi-Adjei (69th Holtmann), Hofmann. – Trainer: Letsch

Leipzig: Blaswich – Simakan (71st Henrichs), Orban, Gvardiol, Halstenberg (82nd Raum) – Laimer (82nd Haidara), Kampl – Szoboszlai, Timo Werner (70th Olmo) – Silva, Poulsen (68th Forsberg). – Coach: Rose

Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)

Goal: 1-0 Masovic (48′)

Viewers: 24,400

Yellow cards: Masovic (2), Soares (5) – Laimer (6), Olmo, Kampl (6)