Pressure eases on coach Marco Rose after Leipzig beats 10-man Union Berlin 2-0

Sun, Feb 4, 2024
Soccer News (AP)

LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) - Lo�s Openda and Benjamin Sesko scored as Leipzig ended a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win over Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Leipzig's poor form, in particular a 5-2 loss to Stuttgart last week, had sparked speculation about Marco Rose's future as coach of a team stacked with promising young players.

Two of those young players stepped up with the goals in a game played in driving rain. Openda scored from a tight angle in the 11th minute before Sesko doubled Leipzig's lead with a header just after the break. Sesko celebrated scoring another header off Dani Olmo's flashy "rabona" trick cross but was judged narrowly offside on video review.

Union created few chances and seemed to give up on a comeback after captain Christopher Trimmel was sent off in the 73rd for a sliding tackle into Leipzig left back David Raum's ankle.

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The win over Union could steady the ship ahead of Leipzig's Champions League last-16 game against Real Madrid on Feb. 13. Leipzig stays fifth. Union is 15th in the 18-team league and has scored just once in its last four games.

Peter Gulacsi was back in the Leipzig goal in a Bundesliga game for the first time since tearing a knee ligament in October 2022. The Hungarian had been a backup for most of this season.

Earlier Sunday, Lovro Majer came off the bench to twice level the score for Wolfsburg in a 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim.

Maximilian Beier gave Hoffenheim the lead in the sixth minute when he received the ball wide on the left on the counter, beat defender Sebastiaan Bornauw and scored between goalkeeper Koen Casteels' legs.

Croatia midfielder Majer combined with new signing Kevin Behrens to score in the 58th, three minutes after coming on. After Grischa Promel's deflected shot restored Hoffenheim's lead, Majer won a penalty and then converted it to equalize again.

Both of Sunday's games were interrupted by fans throwing objects onto the field to protest the German league's plans to sell a slice of its marketing revenue to an outside investor.

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