Another Game, Another Musa Goal! RB Leipzig Start the Season Strong

A tough rival, but a win in the end!

The 62nd Bundesliga season began with an intense win at home against VfL Bochum, who were eager to fight for a point till the very end.

The heat wave sweeping across Germany placed the temperature at 33 degrees celsius at the Red Bull Arena for the Matchday 1, meaning the match against last season’s Relegation winners would have an extra caveat for manager Marco Rose and the coaching staff. The tension was palpable among all involved, including the referee Benjamin Brand.

Never was it more obvious than on the 84th minute, when our captain Willi Orban was sent off after a last-ditch attempt to prevent a Bochum goal.

However, the big news of the match was that Antonio Nusa, who managed to score his first goal with RB Leipzig in the DFB Pokal last week, has put his first goal in the Bundesliga as well. This 1-0 would be enough to see off the VfL and the Red Bulls keeping the three points in Leipzig.

Match facts

Antonio Nusa scored his second official goal with RB Leipzig in his second match, again coming from the bench.
The home-streak against Bochum extends for another match: 6 wins in 7 matches, still undefeated.
Willi Orban won’t be available for the crucial game against Bayer Leverkusen next Saturday, due to his red card suspension.

Starting lineups, stats, highlights. We’ll be reporting all things related to the #RBLBOC live from the Red Bull Arena for you.

RB Leipzig vs. VfL Bochum

Starting Lineups

RB Leipzig
Gulacsi – Simakan (55. Henrichs), Orban (C), Castello Jr., Raum – Kampl, Seiwald (55. Nusa) – Xavi, Haidara (75. Klostermann) – Openda (86. Baumgartner), Sesko (75. Poulsen)

Substitutes
Vandevoordt – Elmas, Silva, Gebel

Only one change rom head coach Marco Rosein comparison to the Essen match:Castello Jr. will take Lukas Klostermann‘s place in the starting formation.

Christoph Baumgartner and Eljif Elmas (both recently recovered from injury) are in the bench to give Marco more alternatives during the course of the match.

VfL Bochum
Drewes – Wittek, Masovic, Medic (86. Oermann), Passlack – Sissoko, Bero, Losilla (71. Pannewig), Daschner (63.) – Hofmann (71. Balde), Broschinski (86. Bamba)

Substitutes
Horn – Gamboa, Loosli, Elezi

Bochum coach Peter Zeidler also makes only one change to the VfL Bochum squad fielded against Jahn Regensburg in the DFB Pokal:New signee Medic (from Ajax Amsterdam) will start in defense instead of Loosli.

Stats

Goals
1-0 Antonio Nusa (59′)

Yellow cards
Xavi / Bero, Passlack, Sissoko

Red card
Willi Orban

Assistance
44,611 in the Red Bull Arena

25′ – A clear occasion for the Red Bulls!

This is what we’ve been waiting for! After a start to the match focused on both sides neutralizing each other and measuring up, Doudou Haidara set in motion the first opportunity to change the score.
First, our midfielder left his opponent standing with a subtle feint and then serves Lois Openda with a perfectly timed long pass.

Lois moved quickly into the box on the right side and saw Xavi lurking around the penalty spot. In the end, the Dutchman couldn’t control the ball. A bit more luck and we would be describing the first goal!

30′ – The game picked up the tempo

In a couple of seconds, both penalty boxes witnessed danger. Castello Jr. stepped in in the last second to prevent Daschner from making the most of a somewhat lapsed Pete Gulacsi.
Castello Jr.’s clearance set a direct counterattack in motion. At the end of the combination Doudou Haidara shot from the edge of the penalty box.

The ball was set to inflict some damage on the VfL’s goal, but is blocked by a Bochum defender before it could.

40′ – Openda almost breaks the deadlock

A great move by the Red Bulls! Mo Simakan passed to Lois Openda on the right, who breaks away from his opponent at exactly the right moment.
Our goal scorer didn’t hesitate and shot from the right edge of the box.

The ball flies just past the left post. Keep it up!

59′ – The Red Bulls go up!

Another debut and another goal for Antonio Nusa after being subbed in a few minutes before putting the 1-0 on the scoreboard. After scoring 74 seconds into his first match with the RBL, the Norwegian has done something similar for his first-ever Bundesliga match.
Benjamin Sesko recovered the ball from Bochum possession against Bero. A pass to Xavi, followed by an attempted pass to the left flank that is blocked, ends up in Nusa’s control, who doesn’t hesitate to shoot the ball to the back of the net.

84′ – RBL with 10 men for the final minutes

Willi Orban saw a direct red card after a last-option tackle on Boadu, who was otherwise free to go one-on-one against Gulacsi.
Because of the fact that Orban was the last defender, referee Brand had no other option but to send our Hungarian defender to the showers early.

90′ + 6- A home win!

It’s over! Our team had to dig in deep to secure this win in Leipzig, but the first three points of the season are here.
Next Saturday (6:30PM CEST / 12:30PM ET) it’ll be the turn of Bayer Leverkusen.