Leipzig win, Dortmund youngsters drub Gladbach
BERLIN: RB Leipzig showed no signs of missing Timo Werner on Sunday as they strolled to a comfortable 3-1 home win over hapless Mainz in their first Bundesliga game of the season.
Third in the table and Champions League semi-finalists last season, pundits in Germany had predicted a tougher ride for Leipzig this year ater they sold star striker Werner to Chelsea.
Yet Julian Nagelsmann’s side were at their freeflowing best as they started the new campaign in front of 8,500 fans, chalking up 23 shots on their way to a deserved win.
Leipzig have now scored 16 goals in their last three games against Mainz, who are preparing for another relegation dogfight this season.
The home side burst out of the blocks, with both Dani Olmo and Marcel Halstenberg coming within inches of taking the lead in the first few minutes.
The opener came ater just a quarter of an hour, as Olmo was tripped by Leandro Barreiro in the box and Emil Forsberg sloted home the resulting penalty.
Danish international Yussuf Poulsen then sent a fizzing shot over the crossbar before doubling the lead with a looping header on 21 minutes.
Ater Forsberg hit the post on the half-hour mark, it seemed rout was on the cards.
Jean-philippe Mateta beat the offside trap just ater the break to bring Mainz back into the game, but Amadou Haidara linked up with Forsberg just a few minutes later to make it 3-1 and put Leipzig out of reach.
Meanwhile, Erling Braut Haaland scored twice and 17-year-old Giovanni Reyna shone as youthful Borussia Dortmund swept aside fellow Champions League side Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 on Saturday.
“It was a really good start to the season. We have a lot of young guys, it’s fun to play with guys near my age,” said USA Under-17 international Reyna.
“This is an exciting group and we have to keep working.” Haaland converted a second-half penalty, then again showcased his clinical eye for goal by finishing a superb counter as Dortmund atacked from their own goal.
Coach Lucien Favre banked on youth by starting two 17-year-olds in Reyna and England Under-21 midfielder Jude Bellingham, who made his league debut, with Sancho and Haaland, both 20, leading Dortmund’s atack.
Reyna, making just his third league start, paid back the faith by scoring the opening goal and winning the penalty Haaland converted.