Bielefeld took three points from Leipzig with a 2-0 victory. A focused defensive performance paved the way for Arminia’s success. Even a red card did not throw the visitors off course.
Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco picked up four points in his first two games in charge. However, there was more in it for the 1-1 draw in Augsburg, with the Saxons missing a number of top-class chances. Nevertheless, the coach, who brought on Mukiele and Szoboszlai for Simakan (bench) and the injured Laimer (ankle injury) after the draw at FCA, had seen “three good halves” in Leipzig’s first two games on the bench. “The direction is right.”
The direction is also right for Bielefeld, who celebrated only their second win of the season with a 2-0 win over Bochum. But there was bad news for Arminia before the match, with regular keeper Ortega Moreno (did not miss a single Bundesliga minute since Bielefeld’s promotion in 2020) and captain Prietl both out with COVID-19. “The duo immediately went into domestic quarantine after testing positive in a standardised series test. All further tests by the licensed players’ department yielded a negative result,” the club announced less than an hour before the match. Coach Frank Kramer instead called up substitute keeper Kapino, who made his competitive debut for Arminia, and Vasiliadis.
Forsberg out early – Okugawa’s goal doesn’t count
The game started far from ideal for Leipzig, after only a few minutes Forsberg injured his thigh without any outside help and was replaced by Adams (7.). The Swede’s creativity was visibly lacking at RB in the first half, because apart from Szoboszlai’s shot (12th, outside the net) and Angelino’s shot (43rd, past on the right), the home side did not have much to offer. RB had 76 per cent of the ball in half one, but did not know what to do with it. This was also due to the fact that Bielefeld stood very secure defensively and allowed almost nothing.
The offensive suffered from the defensive stability of the guests, because very little went forward for the Kramer team. Shortly before the break, however, the ball zapped into the home side’s net out of nowhere, Okugawa had scored – but the flag was up, because the preparer Wimmer was just offside. Thus, after an uneventful first half, the game went into the dressing room goalless.
Serra switches fastest
After the break it was the same picture again, Leipzig had a lot of possession and Bielefeld stood compact. But the Arminen were always on the lookout for pinpricks – like in minute 57: Krüger’s cross reached Wimmer, whose shot bounced off Gulacsi’s chest into the middle, where Serra was the quickest and scored to make it 1:0 for the visitors. It was the striker’s first Bundesliga goal. The goal gave RB something to nibble on, and the home side found it extremely difficult from then on. As in the first half, they simply lacked the compelling ideas in the final third to pose any problems for Bielefeld.
Klos flies off – Arminia increase their lead when shorthanded
The omens of the game then changed in the 70th minute when Klos, who had only been substituted twelve minutes earlier, saw red after kicking Orban. At first referee Willenborg gave yellow, but after viewing the video images he changed this decision. And with one man more, Leipzig promptly had a great chance, Kapino deflected Nkunku’s shot around the post (72nd). The home side wanted to turn the game around – and got the next blow: After Haidara’s bad mistake, Krüger sent in Okugawa, who finished free-standing down the left to make it 2:0 (75.).
Leipzig had no answer to this second goal and lost their first game under Tedesco. The Saxons continue after the short winter break on Saturday (15:30), 8 January, against Mainz. Bielefeld celebrated their second win in a row thanks to a focused defensive performance and are also challenged again on 8 January at 3.30pm, they go to Freiburg.
