Bundesliga: Simons scores a dream goal for Leipzig to win against Gladbach

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Xavi Simons after his goal

Photo: Sven Sonntag / Picture Point LE / IMAGO

RB Leipzig won the Saturday evening Bundesliga game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. With the 2-0 (1-0) win, the Saxons reduced the gap to fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund to one point. Gladbach remains in 14th place.

Top talent Xavi Simons scored the first goal in a remarkable way (14th minute), Loïs Openda made everything clear in the second half (58th).

After four games without a win in a row, Borussia started with a wait-and-see attitude and was initially pushed back by RB Leipzig. With Yussuf Poulsen's first chance, Kō Itakura intervened with a tackle (2nd). Shortly afterwards, the Gladbach defense was powerless. Poulsen passed it to Simons, who took the ball with his thigh and then volleyed it into the left corner from 16 meters.

Fan dies in the stadium

After that, Leipzig was closer to 2-0 than Gladbach was to equalizing, but like in previous weeks, they missed a few chances. Only after around 30 minutes did Borussia take a more active part in the game, but without creating any major opportunities. And because Leipzig gradually managed the lead more than pushing for the second goal, a tough game developed with many interruptions.

The mood in the stadium was also subdued: the Gladbach fans only supported their team cautiously because a member of the fan scene was fatally injured in a car accident. The club announced this on the X platform. The RB supporters were also mostly silent because a person had to be resuscitated in the Leipzig fan block during the game and died in the stadium, as the club announced on X.

Borussia continued to struggle in the second half. Instead, Openda made the preliminary decision early on when, after a long ball from Xaver Schlager, he approached Gladbach's keeper Moritz Nicolas alone and lobbed over him. At the time of the play, Openda was just not offside.

The harmless Borussia's best chances were missed by substitute Nathan Ngoumou, whose attempt flew just past the right post (68th), and Jordan Siebatcheu, who headed past the goal (82nd). Nothing more came from the Gladbachers.

kjo