Against Cologne: After the argument with Olmo, Nkunku meets Leipzig’s leadership

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Dhe anger was short-lived. “When you control a game like that and lead 3-0, it’s bitter for a goalkeeper to concede a standard goal like that with the last action,” said Leipzig’s Petar Gulasci. Overall, the RB goalkeeper could also be satisfied: “It was a very complete performance from us. And it was against a direct competitor for the international places. That helps us a lot in the table.”

When the fans returned, the Saxons celebrated the jump to the Champions League place they were aiming for at the end of the season. With the 3:1 (1:0) against 1. FC Köln, the Saxons advanced to fourth place in the table. It is the runner-up’s best finish this season. RB celebrated the fifth win in the sixth competitive game of 2022 together with 15,000 fans after only very few spectators were allowed in the last three months due to the corona restrictions.

Christopher Nkunku with a fantastic free kick (25th minute), Dani Olmo (54th) and Angeliño (57th) sealed the defeat of FC, who had not lost away from home since October 30, 2021. The return of their coach Steffen Baumgart, who gave full commitment on the sidelines again, did not help the Cologne team. “I love standing there on the edge,” Baumgart emphasized. The coach was recently absent due to a positive corona test. The Cologne goal by Tim Lemperle in injury time was not enough (90+1).

“We’re very happy with our performance, we just have to learn to stay focused until the last second,” said goal scorer Olmo, who has been showing improvement for weeks.

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Even if the result was clear, the Rhinelanders were by no means hopelessly inferior. FC stuck to their courageous route and tried to press the favorites from Leipzig early on.

“We were actually good in the game. But then didn’t take advantage of the scoring chances. We are disappointed,” said Cologne’s Salih Özcan.

Olmo and Nkunku in dispute

Coach Domenico Tedesco’s team managed to play past FC’s attacking line time and time again thanks to their footballing class, resulting in dangerous moves. In the 23rd minute, Nkunku was about to take the lead, but Ellyes Skhiri saved just before the line.

But two minutes later it happened. After a foul by Timo Hübers on Olmo, who was preferred to Emil Forsberg again, Nkunku put a spectacular free kick from 18 meters into the upper left corner of the goal.

A success that may also have provided him with important arguments on his own behalf. Before the free-kick, Nkunku and Olmo had argued with many words and gestures about who should be allowed to take a free-kick. In the end, Olmo relented and the ball fell into the arms of Benjamin Henrichs, who passed it to Nkunku.

FC, on the other hand, lacked penetrating power. It may also have been due to the failure of goalscorer Anthony Modeste, who was ill. The Frenchman has scored 14 of Cologne’s 33 goals so far and was difficult to replace with Sebastian Andersson.

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Bochum coach Thomas Reis

In the second round, RB gave the Cologne team a little control of the game and then struck ice cold. Olmo put the ball in with a shot from 20 meters out and scored his first goal of the season. Angeliño set the tone shortly after, completing a squeaky clean counterattack via Nkunku and Olmo. Further proof that the people of Leipzig are implementing Tedesco’s system, who replaced the hapless Jesse Marsch in December, better and better. Even during his successful time at Schalke, Tedesco’s team at the time impressed with their merciless efficiency.

“We conceded three goals,” said Özcan disappointedly, while his coach was satisfied with the team’s performance: “We have to evaluate the result, and it’s not a good one. And we need to evaluate performance. When I look at it, it was a good game. I saw an even game. We even had more shots on goal and covered more kilometers. We defended well and developed many situations that we wanted to develop,” said Steffen Baumgart.