Leipzig: Redemption done, revenge completed. RB Leipzig defeated Manchester United 3-2 in the Champions League group H encounter on Tuesday. Angelino, Amadou Haidara and Justin Kluivert scored for Leipzig while for Manchester United it was Bruno Fernandes and an own goal from Ibrahima Konate.
The match was a match of survival and redemption. For Manchester United, it was just to draw and maintain their unbeaten away record and to qualify for the next round. For Leipzig, it was to take revenge over their humiliating 5-0 defeat at Manchester.
The game started with a bang as Angelino scored in the third minute through a quickfire finish. Before United could settle down Haidara scored the second 10 minutes later. The Red Devils looked lost for ideas as there were too many missed chances with players struggling to influence the game. Whereas the last year’s semifinalists Leipzig were looking more and more threatening and were looking for more goals.
In the second half United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made two changes, he brought in Paul Pogba for Nameja Matic and Daniel James for Luke Shaw but nothing changed as Kluivert scored the third for Leipzig at 69 minutes mark, almost sealing the deal for the German side.
United made a brief comeback with a penalty from Fernandes in the 80th minute and an own goal from Konate two minutes later. It definitely changed the course of the game but Leipzig held onto their lead to emerge winners and qualifying for the round of 16 as league leaders.
For Manchester United, it’s another year of European failure as they might feature in the Europa League this season after the way the standings look like. The PSG and Istanbul Basakeshir match of this group was called off due to unusual racist comments. The match will be played in Paris and if PSG win or draw, United will be out of the competition and will feature in the Europa’s round of 16 in February 2021.
The 11-year-old club, Leipzig has been making a statement in the Champions League since last year. This year they lost their German talisman Timo Werner to Chelsea in the summer transfer, but still have got enough firepower to beat teams Manchester United and PSG. Manchester United’s Champions League glory has been far from a lost cause. They just lost their way against Leipzig and Solskjaer failed to influence his side.
When they actually made a comeback it was too little too late to finish off.
