Thanks to Baumgartner: Leipzig Avoids Cup Embarrassment in Essen

Thanks to two late goals by substitute Christoph Baumgartner, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig ultimately accomplished its task in the DFB Cup and advanced to the round of 16. Against third-division side Rot-Weiss Essen, coach Martin Demichelis’s team—which played most of the match with one fewer player—narrowly prevailed 2-1 (0-1).

In front of 17,467 spectators at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße, Lucas Brumme (9th minute) had given the underdogs—who played strongly for much of the match—an early lead. Baumgartner (78th and 82nd) turned the game around in favor of the clear favorites.

Before the match, an incident had caused a stir: Unknown individuals had cemented shut the entrance to the visitors’ section overnight and covered it with anti-RB messages. Staff were able to remove the blockade in the morning. Inside the stadium, the Essen fan section in the West Stand showed their dislike for RB with boos and a banner reading “Pure hatred for cop pigs!”, on which the letters “R” and “B” were highlighted in red and blue.

Substitute forward scores the 1-0 goal for the underdog

Essen, plagued by several absences on offense, started boldly against the Champions League participant. Less than ten minutes in, substitute striker Brumme capitalized on a slip-up: After a backpass from Castello Lukeba that was too short, goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland lost his footing. Brumme rounded the goalkeeper—who was once again standing between the posts in place of starting goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt—and slotted home to make it 1-0 for the underdog.

After five straight away losses—RB’s last road win had come in the first round of the cup with a 6-0 victory in Trier—the favorites struggled. RWE even missed a chance to make it 2–0 when a free kick by Brumme grazed the outside net (25th minute). While the roughly 500 traveling away fans didn’t see a single shot on goal from Leipzig in the first half, Nicolas Seiwald (44th minute) was sent off with a yellow-red card shortly before halftime following a foul.

Leipzig Steps Up the Pressure Despite Being a Man Down

Down a man but with two fresh substitutes, Leipzig applied more offensive pressure after the break. A first good chance went unused because Tidiam Gomis shot at his teammate Rômulo after Essen lost possession (55th minute). Shortly afterward, RWE goalkeeper Jakob Golz was on hand to stop a low shot from Gomis (59th minute). Baumgartner headed the ball just over the goal shortly after coming on as a substitute (63').

In the pouring rain, the RWE fans in the stands turned up the volume, while Coach Uwe Koschniat’s team struggled to relieve the pressure on the field. Substitute Baumgartner finally tied the game at 1–1 (78th minute) after a cross from fellow substitute Antonio Nusa. Five minutes later, the Austrian turned the game around with a header to make it 2–1, ending the team’s streak of away losses and securing a spot in the round of 16.