Sabitzer’s brace spurs Leipzig
Leipzig, March 11: Tottenham crashed out of the Champions League as RB Leipzig cruised to a 3-0 win on Tuesday to progress to the quarterfinals for the first time 4-0 on aggregate.
Leipzig captain Marcel Sabitzer struck twice in the first 21 minutes to put the tie to bed before substitute Emil Forsberg added the third late on with his first touch.
Spurs travelled to eastern Germany shorn of striking options without the injured Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Steven Bergwijn.
However, it was at the other end that they buckled inside the opening quarter of the game as two errors from Hugo Lloris in goal turned a tough task into an impossible one.
Leipzig took just 10 minutes to open the scoring when Lloris did not get a strong enough right hand to stop Sabitzer’s strike from outside the box finding the bottom corner.
Timo Werner then fired home from close range only to be denied by the offside flag as Leipzig opened up the Tottenham defence at will.
And the visitors did not learn their lesson as Serge Aurier was caught napping by a purposeful burst from Angelino. The Manchester City loanee’s cross was met by a powerful header by Sabitzer, but Lloris should still have done better to keep the ball out at his near post.
Lloris did make some measure of amends by saving from Werner and Patrik Schick to keep the score down before halftime, while at the other end Peter Gulasci was finally forced into action by Erik Lamela. Forsberg was more clinical just 32 seconds after replacing Sabitzer to fire into the far corner three minutes from time. Tottenham’s season now hinges on refinding their form in the Premier League if they are not to miss out on the Champions League for the first time in five years.