RB Leipzig beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:0 in their opening fixture of the season at the Red Bull Arena on Friday evening. The hosts took all three points despite the visitors holding slightly more possession, and the result gives them a comfortable start to the campaign.
Riddle Baku opened the scoring in the twenty-fifth minute, and here's the thing — Leipzig didn't look like they were going to have to chase the game. Antonio Nusa doubled the advantage just after the break, forty-ninth minute, and by then the visitors were already on the back foot. Rocco Reitz made it three in the sixty-sixth, and Gladbach had no answer for the pace of the transitions.
There was a remarkable sweep of changes around the hour mark, six substitutions for Gladbach in quick succession — Robin Hack, Kevin Stöger, Lukas Ullrich, Wael Mohya, and Tidiam Gomis all came on together. Brajan Gruda and Ridle Baku were then replaced in the seventy-third, while Rocco Reitz and Ezechiel Banzuzi came off for Leipzig in the eighty-third. Hugo Bolin had a goal cancelled by VAR in stoppage time, ninety-sixth minute, but the result was never in doubt.
The numbers tell a story of efficiency rather than dominance. Leipzig had 47 per cent possession but created six big chances against Gladbach's two, and their expected goals of 3.96 versus 1.09 shows where the real pressure lay. They registered eleven shots on target to the visitors' four, and even with 53 per cent of the ball Gladbach could not find a way through.
For Leipzig, this is a statement after that heavy defeat to Bayern in mid-August. They sit third in the table with 65 points from 34 games, and while that record is from a different context, the performance today suggested they are ready to compete. Gladbach, meanwhile, remain twelfth with 38 points and will need to find more than they produced here if they want to move up the standings.
