RB Leipzig beat VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The Nkunku comeback was also celebrated.
Wolfsburg – In the 68th minute the time had finally come! Christopher Nkunku celebrated in the 3-0 win of RB Leipzig at the VfL Wolfsburg his long-awaited comeback, for which he even managed to prepare. Match winner was on Saturday afternoon but his Swedish teammate.
RB Leipzig’s super Swede nets: Emil Forsberg put the Saxons in the lead in the 14th minute. © Picture Point / Roger Petzsche
Because Emil Forsberg provided the chest solver of the day with his well-placed shot, which brought Leipzig back to the top places in the Bundesliga.
About the game: The hosts got off to a slightly better start. RB was disturbed early on in the build-up of the game and because he wasn’t always in the saddle, there were opportunities for the wolves to shoot.
Xaver Schlager in particular seemed a bit as if he had stage fright when he returned to his old place of work. Forsberg made a really strong game – and rewarded himself early on with a goal.
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VfL didn’t get the ball away properly after an RB attack. The ball finally rolled just outside the penalty area to the Swede, who pulled away without a hitch. The ball hit the right post and from there into the net (14′).
At the latest after the goal, the Saxons had everything under control. Wolfsburg lacked the structure on the offensive to become really dangerous, which admittedly was also due to the guest, who allowed almost nothing.
The lawn ballers could have increased even before the break whistle. But Dominik Szoboszlai’s direct free kick in the 41st minute only kissed the right outside post.
The Saxons had everything under control until the half-time whistle. VfL Wolfsburg hardly took place offensively. © Picture Point / Roger Petzsche
RB Leipzig missed the quick preliminary decision against VfL Wolfsburg
Many smaller fouls characterized the second half. But at no time was it really unfair. © Andreas Gora/dpa
The Red Bulls could have made the preliminary decision shortly after the restart. But Willi Orban headed the ball after a cross from the right from a very short distance to the left of the post (47th).
But the wolves had made something, acted more courageously and kept finding gaps in the Leipzig defense.
The clearer chances still had the guests. Like Andre Silva, who managed to shoot Micky van de Ven, who was standing on the line, from two meters away from the goal and thus missed the huge opportunity to make it 2-0 (57th).
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Then the moment Nkunku had been waiting for: Substituting for the hapless Silva. Marco Rose gave his Frenchman almost 25 minutes before the Champions League cracker on Wednesday against Manchester City.
But the fact that the 25-year-old still needs some time to find his old strength was made clear by the 81st minute at the latest, in which the attacking star put the ball over the bar in front of Koen Casteels. He would have done that in his sleep a few months ago.
Comeback after three months: Christopher Nkunku is back on the pitch after his injury shortly before the World Cup. © Picture Point / Roger Petzsche
Nkunku still collected scorer points again. Because when Konrad Laimer made it 2-0 in the 84th minute, the Frenchman provided the template on the left. The Austrian then did it very confidently, turned half around his own axis and netted in the far corner for the decision.
The rest was then just a formality. Wolfsburg no longer believed in victory and even allowed a momentous attack in the third minute of added time. The Saxons brought this to a perfect end, in which Schlager put the ball in the middle to Szoboszlai, who deliberately made it 3-0.
Statistics on the Bundesliga match between VfL Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig
VfL Wolfsburg – RB Leipzig 0:3 (0:1)
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Baku, Bornauw, van de Ven, Paulo Otavio (46. Lacroix) – Arnold – F. Nmecha (74. Ambros), Gerhardt – Wimmer (59. Svanberg), Wind (59. L. Nmecha), L. Waldschmidt (46. Marmoush)
RB Leipzig: Blaswich – Klostermann, Orban, Gvardiol, Raum (88. Halstenberg) – Haidara (88. Kampl), Schlager – Szoboszlai, Forsberg (75. Laimer), Werner (75. Y. Poulsen) – André Silva (69. Nkunku)
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Oberasbach)
Viewers: 24.831
Tore: 0:1 Forsberg (14th), 0:2 Laimer (85th), 0:3 Szoboszlai (90th+2)
Yellow cards: Bornauw (5) / room (3)