Martín Demichelis began his reign as RB Leipzig head coach with a 1-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, extending the Red Bulls’ impressive run to six consecutive Bundesliga home wins.
Gladbach arrived in Leipzig without a victory in their previous 11 Bundesliga away matches, but they started positively and enjoyed plenty of possession. Their best opportunity came when Hugo Bolin met Philipp Sander’s lay-off and fired towards the near post, only for Maarten Vandevoort to tip the effort onto the woodwork before somehow recovering to claw the spinning ball off the line.
That warning sparked Leipzig into life, and the hosts soon took control. Ridle Baku surged down the right before exchanging a neat one-two with Tidiam Gomis. Receiving the ball back behind the Gladbach defence, Baku kept his composure to slot into the bottom-left corner and give Leipzig the lead.
The Red Bulls continued to dominate and could have gone into half-time with a more comfortable advantage. Willi Orbán came particularly close when his powerful header crashed against the crossbar shortly before the interval.
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Demichelis’ side continued their pursuit of a second goal after the restart and appeared to have found it when Rocco Reitz, a summer arrival from Gladbach, helped launch a flowing attacking move. The ball eventually reached Antonio Nusa, who used a clever stepover before opening his body and curling a superb finish into the far top corner.
Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas then produced an extraordinary triple save to keep his side in contention, including a remarkable point-blank stop to deny Ezechiel Banzuzi.
Leipzig continued to threaten, with another new arrival playing a key role. Christopher Nkunku slipped a pass through to Reitz, who finished between Nicolas’ legs before immediately apologising to his former club’s supporters.
Gladbach eventually enjoyed more possession and created a couple of half-chances, but Leipzig remained in control and comfortably saw out the result.
The victory means Leipzig have still never lost to Gladbach at home in the Bundesliga across 11 seasons, recording seven wins and four draws. For Gladbach, meanwhile, Eugen Polanski will need to find a way to improve results quickly if his side are to avoid a sixth consecutive Bundesliga finish in the bottom half of the table.
