Rönnow's penalty saved secures Union Berlin a draw against Leipzig

Frederik Rönnow still had a satisfied grin on his face long after the final whistle. "I tried to get into his head a bit. I wanted to provoke him a bit, play a bit of mind games and it worked," said the 1. FC Union Berlin goalkeeper. His penalty save played a key role in helping his team earn a 0-0 draw at RB Leipzig.

Openda analyzed

The main sufferer was Leipzig's Loïs Openda. The striker had taken the penalty himself when he was fouled by Kevin Vogt. It was the Belgian's second missed penalty in eight days, after he failed to score from the spot against Israel in his national shirt.

"We analyzed the player with the goalkeeping team, of course," said Rönnow. Fortunately, it worked out. But the truth is that Openda's penalty kick was so weak that the Dane only had to jump halfway into the right corner. Only Openda can say to what extent his delaying tactic of tangling with Leipzig's Arthur Vermeeren shortly before the penalty was taken contributed to the miss. But he preferred to remain silent.

Khedira and the neat cut

There were more happy faces on the Berlin side. Rani Khedira was even annoyed that it hadn't been enough to win. Tom Rothe had a great chance to take the lead in the 58th minute after a corner, but RB goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi saved the header with a strong reflex save. "When you get the ball so clearly, you have to say that the goal would have been possible," said the midfielder. "That must also annoy us because we practise it often enough."

After three games, Berlin, who were without head coach Bo Svensson due to illness, have five points and no defeats. Khedira described the result as a "decent average". "We didn't really know where we stood," said the 30-year-old. They are now satisfied with the point against a Champions League team and the performance.