Red Bull Leipzig 2-1 Paris Saint Germain
Leipzig earned a big result tonight at the Red Bull Arena, beating Paris Saint Germain to take control of their destiny in Champions League Group H.
The visitors went ahead with an early goal from Angel di Maria and could have doubled their lead from the penalty spot, but a miss and a Christopher Nkunku strike just before break put the game in the balance.
Red Bull dominated the second half and Emil Forsberg won all three points with a well-taken spot kick.
At the start of the game, both Red Bull and PSG were chasing Manchester United at the top of Group H.
The earlier result in Istanbul where Basaksehir beat the Red Devils, 2-1, blew the group wide open and RB Leipzig took advantage.
Tonight’s Champions League 2020 highlights were dominated by PSG for the first 15 minutes and then the hosts took control.
Highlights of the game
After a great start to the season, Red Bull’s form has taken a nosedive over the last couple of weeks and the hosts could hardly have had a worse start tonight.
With just six minutes on the clock, PSG were ahead when Moise Kean found Angel di Maria on the right side of the box and the midfielder fired low and true into the bottom left corner.
Die Roten Bullen must be sick of the sight of Di Maria, after the Argentine scored one and assisted two goals when PSG beat them in the 2020 Champions League semifinal.
But they dragged themselves up and took the game to the Parisians. Angelino had a shot blocked and then Amadou Haidara met a cross from Nordi Mukiele and hit a sweet shot but Keylor Navas made a smart save.
PSG and Di Maria had a golden chance to make it two with just 15 minutes on the clock when PSG defender Dayot Upamecano stuck his arm out to make a block and gave away a penalty as well as collecting a yellow card.
Di Maria stepped up to take the spot kick and fired it low towards the bottom right corner but Peter Gulacsi got down well to save.
That gave Leipzig renewed hope as Emil Forsberg took a shot from outside the penalty area which Navas saved low to his left.
But the PSG keeper couldn’t keep out the next long range effort from Christopher Nkunku which flew into the bottom corner.
A 1-1 draw at halftime became 2-1 to Leipzig early in the second half, and it was a spot kick converted by Forsberg which gave the hosts the lead after Presnel Kimpembe had handled.
Red Bull were in the ascendency and Haidara was close to making it 3-1 but Navas saved low in the bottom left corner.
Any hopes of PSG getting back into the game were dealt another blow when midfielder Idrissa Gueye fell on top of Haidara and earned a second yellow card, which meant the French side had to play the last twenty minutes with only 10 men.
Angelino and Nkunku both came close to doubling Leipzig’s lead, and then it all fell apart for Paris as Kimpembe became their second player to collect a red.
It was a bad night for PSG and a job well done for Leipzig!
Key statistics
PSG were without Kylian Mbappe tonight. The Ligue 1 top scorer was injured in the 3-0 win over Nantes and could be out for a few weeks and that seemed to seriously blunt the Parisian’s attack.
Leipzig won the shot count by 12 to eight and five to two on target.
That means that the Bundesliga side has won five of their last seven home Champions League ties and have won five at home in all competitions.
What’s next?
Before the game kicked off the Champions League 2020 betting odds suggested Paris was a serious bet to win the tournament, but now they have work to do to qualify for the knockout rounds.
Back in Ligue 1, PSG are at home to third-placed Rennes, and that will be another good test against a side which has lost just once in the last six.
Across the border in Germany, defeat to Monchengladbach last weekend ended Red Bull’s early season stint at the top of the Bundesliga.
This weekend, they are at home to SC Freiburg and they’ll hope to get back to winning ways.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Der Klasiker is the weekend’s big clash.
And here at SBOTOP we’ll be previewing and then reporting on Germany’s biggest game as Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern meet again.
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