It may be too late, but RB Leipzig bagged their first points of their Champions League campaign with victory over Sporting Lisbon this evening. The 8th-minute brought about the first significant chance of the game as Loïs Openda stung the palms of Franco Israel. Sporting also came close as Conrad Harder’s effort curled around the post. Leipzig constructed the lead in a beautiful manner midway through the half. Xavi Simons fed David Raum whose first-time cross was converted by Benjamin Sesko.
Leipzig looked to double their lead in the 30th minute when Raum rattled the net, but a VAR check spotted Openda interfering with Fresneda in an offside position. Apart from a small era of dominance through the Portuguese visitors, Leipzig controlled much of the action with Christoph Baumgartner and Xavi Simons impressing.
After some pinball in the Sporting Lisbon box to start the second-half, Amadou Haidara managed to release a rasping strike which kissed off the post and away from danger. It wasn’t long before Willi Orbán faced a more difficult task as top-scorer Viktor Gyökeres was substituted in. With their Champions League fate already decided, Marco Rose also withdrew Raum, Simons and Openda with an eye on next weekend’s Bundesliga duties.
Things bounced back in the final 15 minutes when Gyökeres restored parity after receiving a pass from Daniel Braganca to beat Orbán and select the most sensible left corner. However, this parity would last for a total of 3 minutes, as Leipzig’s longest-serving player, Yusuf Poulsen, played the ball beyond Israel. In an attempt to salvage a point, Sporting put caution aside and insisted on a draw, but nothing happened and Die Roten Bullen held on.
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