Xavi Simons Shines see RB Leipzig beat Borussia Mönchengladbach

Match Overview

RB Leipzig headed into this late Saturday evening clash knowing victory would take them within one point of Borussia Dortmund in fourth.

Early on in this tie, RB Leipzig had a fair share of chances and sought to control the game.

This culminated in an early lead in the fourteenth minute through a Xavi Simons goal.

With brilliant technique, Xavi managed to control a ball played to him by Yussuf Poulsen and volley it into the top corner of the net.

In the 23rd minute, Lukas Klostermann went off injured and Mohamed Simakan had to replace the Leipzig defender.

Just before the halftime break, Robin Hack had an opportunity to lob Péter Gulácsi as he was gifted the ball by a Leipzig mistake. However, his attempt was unsuccessful.

Early on in the second half, Jordan guided a header just wide as he beat Willi Orbán to the header from a cross.

Following this, Xavi Simons had a curled effort that lacked pace and fell into Moritz Nicolas' hands.

In the 57th minute, Loïs Openda ran in behind the Gladbach defence with a clever run and lobbed Moritz Nicolas. Initially disallowed, the goal was eventually given with the help of VAR.

Around the 72nd minute mark, two chances fell to Leipzig in two minutes as both Benjamin Šeško attempts to get a goal were to no avail.

For the rest of the game, Gladbach had one last great chance which fell to Franck Honorat but he missed the chance.

Man of the Match

Xavi Simons

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With a fantastic strike and a scintillating five dribbles during the ninety minutes, Xavi proved a threat the whole game for an unsturdy Gladbach defence. Four shots and four tackles on top of this round off a memorable performance in RB Leipzig's bid for Champions League football.