RB Leipzig drop points again in Bundesliga after late Lois Openda penalty miss
Marco Rose’s men have struggled on the road of late, winning just one of their previous five away league matches. A less-than-perfect playing surface made life hard for the visitors early on, as they were expertly restricted in the opening quarter-hour.
When Leipzig did find a way through, home goalkeeper Finn Dahmen was on hand to make a brilliant save to deny Dani Olmo’s header.
Augsburg were beginning to get on top by the half-hour mark, and it didn’t take them long to break the deadlock in brilliant fashion. After Ruben Vargas’ effort was beaten away by Péter Gulácsi, the in-form Philipp Tietz was first to the rebound, caressing a volley into the bottom corner to the delight of the home faithful.
Their joy would be short-lived, however, as a clinical Leipzig counter culminated in David Raum’s pinpoint cross being glanced into the far corner off the head of the lethal Loïs Openda to send the sides in level at the break.
Armed with the greater momentum, the visitors wasted little time in completing the turnaround after the break. Their second was almost a carbon copy of the opener, but this time it was Olmo’s teasing cross from the right that was headed home by the ever-improving Benjamin Šeško.
Augsburg had been forced out of their shell but were grateful for Dahmen’s brilliant save denying Xavi Simons before they staged a comeback of their own on the break. Ermedin Demirović, a former Leipzig youth player, cut in from the left and rifled into the near top corner on the hour mark.
With both sides continuing to look dangerous in a real end-to-end affair, a moment of madness from Dahmen looked as though it would settle the contest. He rushed off his line to try and gather a high ball into the box, but missed by some margin and clattered Mohamed Simakan, conceding a penalty after a VAR review.
The Augsburg goalkeeper redeemed himself immediately though, comfortably saving Openda’s spot-kick and keeping his side in the contest in the closing stages.
That proved a crucial intervention, as although the hosts failed to find a winning goal, avoiding defeat moved them eight points clear of the drop zone - a comfortable margin despite their run of just one win from eight league games.
Leipzig, meanwhile, were left to rue what might have been as they lost further ground on Borussia Dortmund in the race to finish in the UEFA Champions League places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ermedin Demirović (Augsburg)
