Amadou Haidara gives RB Leipzig 1-0 win over Hertha BSC

RB Leipzig followed on from their 2-0 win over Borussia Bortmund in the DFB-Pokal quarterfinal midweek by picking up three points against Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga on Saturday evening. Amadou Haidara scored the only goal of the game.

The home side took a cautious approach to the game and looked to sit deep, not allowing Leipzig many chances in the opposition half. Shortly before half-time, however, the plan fell apart after a set pice. Mohamed Simakan challenged and beat Hertha goalkeeper Oliver Christensen from a Dominik Szoboszlai corner and Amadou Haidara tapped the ball home from close range (40’).

Hertha were less passive in the second half as they looked to level the game, as such creating more spaces for the Red Bulls. However, neither side were really dangerous going forward, despite marco Rose’s side comfortably dominating the play. Benjamin Henrichs shot over the bar with a good chance to double the lead on the hour mark (61’). A few moments later, Christensen did well to intercept a dangerous David Raum cross (69’).

At the other end, Janis Blaswich was called into significant action for the first time in the 81st minute when he stuck out a leg to save a low shot from Suat Serdar. Four minutes later, Szoboszlai saw a pair of efforts saved by Christensen.

In the end, a second goal never came but the victory was never really in doubt and RBL took all three points after a convincing performance. The Red Bulls now sit on 48 points and are back the Champions League places, one point ahead of SCFreiburg.

Match information:

HERTHA BSC:
Christensen – Uremovic (74′ Niederlechner), Cigerci (62’Serdar), Lukebakio, Kenny (62′ Richter), Kanga (74′ Jovetic), Kempf, Plattenhardt (C), Prince (62′ Ngankam), Tousart, Dardai

Unused subs: Ernst (gk) – Rogel, Mittelstädt, Sunjic

RB LEIPZIG:
Blaswich – Simakan, Orbán, Haidara (78′ Klostermann), Forsberg (63′ Olmo), Werner (63′ Silva), Szoboszlai, Raum (88′ Halstenberg), Gvardiol, Henrichs, Kampl

Unused subs: Nyland (gk) – Ba, Diallo, Laimer

REFEREE:
Deniz Aytekin (Oberaspach)

GOAL:
Haidara (40′)

ATTENDANCE:
–

YELLOW CARDS:
Lukébakio (32′), Uremovic (45′), Boateng (45’+3), Kanga (70′) | Szoboszlai (20′), Haidara (45’+3), Simakan (90′)

First half highlights:

KICK OFF:

Underway in the capital. Let’s go, boys!

4TH MINUTE:

First chance for RBL! Werner receives the ball on the right and gets into the area, but his shot is always curling across goal and away from the far post.

8TH MINUTE:

Leipzig are controlling the early phases, with Hertha looking to sit deeper.

9TH MINUTE:

Raum delivers a corner and Gvardiol meets it, but heads his effort over the bar and onto the roof of the net.

13TH MINUTE:

Boateng receives a long ball on the right and plays into the middle towards Cigerci. Hertha’s number 6 shoots from the edge of the area but it’s blocked for a corner.

25TH MINUTE:

Henrichs gets ahead of Kempf in the area and gets goalside of the defender. Falling down, Kempf grabs the legs of Henrichs for a second and it’s all a bit messy. No penalty is the call.

28TH MINUTE:

Plattenhardt hits a long-range free kick but it’s over the bar and no problem for Blaswich.

40TH MINUTE, GOOOAAAL FOR LEIPZIG!

Szoboszlai delivers a corner from the left. Simakan jumps to meet it inside the six-yard box and challenges goalkeeper Christensen. The ball almost goes over the line but the goalkeeper manages to keep it out, before Haidara pokes the ball over the line from centimetres away.

HALF TIME:

RBL take a deserved one-goal lead into the break.

First half in photos

Second half highlights:

46TH MINUTE:

The second half is underway. No changes for either side.

57TH MINUTE:

With the home side looking more lively since falling behind, there’s a bit more tempo in the game and also some more opportunities on the counter attack for RBL.

61ST MINUTE:

RBL are looking dangerous here. A good move ends with a shot from Benjamin Henrichs from inside the area, but it’s just over the bar.

63RD MINUTE:

Double change for RBL: Silva and Olmo replace Forsberg and Werner.

69TH MINUTE:

Raum gets into a dangerous area and crosses from the left byline, but Christensen is able to get there ahead of a number of RBL attackers.

78TH MINUTE:

Goalscorer Haidara comes off, making way for Lukas Klostermann.

81ST MINUTE:

Big save from Janis Blaswich! Serdar is free in the area for the home side and hits a low, hard effort across goal. Janis gets a leg out and keeps the lead intact!

85TH MINUTE:

Nearly a second! Dominik Szoboszlai has space down the left and shifts onto his right foot as he enters the area. He tries a curling effort across goal into the far corner, but it’s a good height for Christensen, who can parry away. André Silva receives the rebound from Halstenberg but fires just wide of the bottom corner with his first-time effort.

FULL TIME:

Just one goal in it, but it’s a deserved victory on the road for Marco Rose’s side.