A great way to start the season!
After a three-month break, football is back in Germany. Today: Kick-off in Essen, and the match didn’t take long to deliver.
The local team from the Ruhr region made the most out of a thundering start and just after two minutes managed to go ahead. Our team however didn’t leave things till the last minute and found in Benjamin Sesko the right person to level things 1-1 on the 12th minute. Lois Openda followed Benni’s lead and turned the game around on the 40th minute.
Sesko and Openda picked up` where they left off once the ball got rolling again and pushed to increase the scoreline in Essen. But in the end it would be RBL’s newest signing, Antonio Nusa, who would score the 3-1 for the Red Bulls in the 84th minute. It didn’t take much longer for the final 4-1 to show up on the scoreboard, after Xavi Simons’ dribbling masterclass ended in the first stunner from the Dutchman this season in the 87th minute.
This 4-1 win sends RB Leipzig through to the second round of the DFB Pokal!
Rot-Weiss Essen vs. RB Leipzig
Starting Lineups
Rot-Weiss Essen
Golz – Schultz, Arslan, Kaparos (67. Eisfeld), Vonic, Safi (67. Wintzheimer), Brumme, Voufack, Rios (77. Celebi), Müsel, Kraulich
Ersatzbank
Springer, Wienand – Kourouma, Kaiser, Berisha, Swajkowski
RB Leipzig
Gulacsi – Simakan, Orban, Haidara (83. Nusa), Xavi (88. Gebel), Openda, Seiwald, Klostermann (65. Henrichs) , Raum (65. Lukeba), Sesko (83. Silva), Kampl
Ersatzbank
Zingerle, Vandevoordt – Jatta
Stats
Goals
0-1 R. Safi (2′), 1-1 Benjamin Sesko (12′), 2-1 Lois Openda (40′), 3-1 Antonio Nusa (84′), 4-1 Xavi Simons (87′)
Yellow cards
Rios (47′), Arslan (63′), Henrichs (66′)
Venue
Stadion an der Hafenstraße (Essen)
12′: Doudou Haidara assists Benjamin Sesko with the equalizer
- And here is our first goal of the 2024/25 season! Doudou Haidara found Benjamin Sesko with a spectacular cross on the far post. Our number 30 didn’t have much to think about and shot the 1-1 in.
The hosts had gone up in the scoreboard early in the match, when R. Safi surprised our defense and found the back of the net with some help from the right post.
40′: Lois turns things around after a Sesko assist
- Sesko starts the season in full swing, assisting RBL’s 2-1 lead after putting the first one in himself. He threw a perfectly timed pass at Lois Openda. The Belgian therefore opens his scoring tally for the season.
Some minutes after, the referee ended the first half with a scoreboard favoring our Red Bulls.
84′: Debutant Nusa is quick to turn heads
- In the final stretch of the match, coach Marco Rose brought recently signed Antonio Nusa (83′). The 19-year-old celebrated his first official appearance gifting RBL and fans his first goal as a Red Bull, one minute after jumping into scene (84′).
87′: Xavi seals things off with a whopping 4-1 win
- An amazing solo run from Xavi was the appropriate closing to a strong start for RB Leipzig! The Dutch broke Rot-Weiss Essen’s defensive line with a show of his skills with three minutes left on the clock. The spot in the next Pokal round is now guaranteed..
From a surprise 0-1 down at the beginning, our players were able to earn a convincing 4-1 in Essen to start the 2024/25 season on the right foot.
The match gallery
