Löw beats former boss: Leipzig also wins in Wolfsburg

RB Leipzig remained unbeaten in the Bundesliga under coach Zsolt Löw and climbed to a place in the top flight, at least for one night. The Saxons won 3:2 (2:0) at VfL Wolfsburg and knocked FSV Mainz 05 out of fourth place, which is enough to qualify for the Champions League.

The Mainz side can, however, overtake RB again with a win at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, are stuck in lower midfield.

Loïs Openda (11th minute) provided early relief for Leipzig in front of 23,070 fans. The Belgian international striker scored for the third time in the second half of the season and thus freed himself somewhat from his creative crisis. Xavi Simons (26th/49th) followed up twice - also with a shot from distance. Kilian Fischer (58) tied the scores with his first goal in the Bundesliga and Andreas Skov Olsen (75) reduced the deficit once more.

Unexpected defensive reshuffle

Ralph Hasenhüttl versus Zsolt Löw - the duel was dominated by the two former colleagues. Löw was assistant coach under Hasenhüttl at Leipzig from 2016 to 2018. Both got off to a flying start in the Bundesliga with Leipzig. Now, almost nine years later, they met for the first time at managerial level.

However, Löw had some trickier homework to do. Two regulars in the back four - defender Willi Orban and international David Raum - were out at short notice due to muscular problems. As a result, 19-year-old El Chadaille Bitshiabu and veteran Lukas Klostermann moved into the starting eleven.

Leipzig got off to a flying start, with Fischer blocking a shot from Benjamin Sesko (4th) just before the line. Wolfsburg, without a win in four games, were particularly unsettled in defence, where the back three were very passive and hardly got into the duels.

Openda in Löw's arms

The RB lead was then also the result of an embarrassing loss of possession by Patrick Wimmer centrally in front of goal. Ex-Wolfsburg player Ridle Baku picked the ball off the Austrian, Openda was there - and shot from a good 20 meters. One shot, one goal, one emotional celebration. Openda, who had been unlucky in recent months, ran straight to Löw and fell into his coach's arms. Löw had previously revealed that he had taken special care of the Belgian attacker in one-on-one talks.

Only nine minutes later, the ball was in the net again. But goalscorer Sesko was offside when Nicolas Seiwald's shot was blocked. Wolfsburg breathed a sigh of relief - and reduced the deficit. But Bence Dardai (22) failed to hit the post with his header. It was Wolfsburg's first good chance.

And Leipzig? Proved unusually efficient. Because the second (legal) shot at the VfL goal was also on target. Arthur Vermeeren won the ball in midfield and laid it off to Simons. Three Wolfsburg defenders were in awe as the dribbler drilled the ball unchallenged into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Fischer with a left-footed shot

Wolfsburg continued to struggle offensively and then had another aluminum miss. After a transition, Jakub Kaminski made his way towards the Leipzig goal on his own, but his shot hit the crossbar. There were whistles from the VfL fans at half-time and coach Hasenhüttl came under increasing criticism.

After the changeover, nothing changed at first. Leipzig passed the ball back and forth calmly and unchallenged in front of the Wolfsburg penalty area - and Simons simply took off and scored again. If anything, it was from distance. Fischer was also convinced, scoring with his left foot from 20 meters to revive VfL. There was even more hope after the goal from winter newcomer Skov Olsen - but in the end, Leipzig shambled to victory.