CORDON SANITAIRE: The hosts greeted Leipzig with a customary 15-minute silence, protesting what many see as their abuse of German soccer’s club ownership rules
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AFP, BERLIN
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Goals from Oliver Burke and Ilyas Ansah sealed a 3-1 home win for Union Berlin on Friday to deny RB Leipzig the chance to close the gap on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Second-placed Leipzig arrived in Berlin hoping to move five points behind Bayern, who host rock bottom Mainz today.
However, the visitors were overrun by the underdog Berliners and are under threat from third-placed Borussia Dortmund, who are just one point behind and travel to Freiburg today.
Union Berlin’s Ilyas Ansah scores their second goal against RB Leipzig in Berlin on Friday.
Photo: REUTERS
Burke and Ansah scored either side of a goal for Leipzig’s Tidiam Gomis in a wild seven-minute spell midway through the second half. Tim Skarke added another for the hosts in stoppage time.
The victory took Union seven points clear of the relegation spots into eighth, and means Bayern could extend their lead atop the table to 11 points with a win against Mainz.
“This shouldn’t happen to us. It’s very bitter and disappointing. Unfortunately, the defeat is deserved,” Leipzig’s sporting director Marcel Schaefer told Sky Germany. “If we want to be a top team, we have to be fully focused in every game. We didn’t play well in some phases. Union ruthlessly exploited that.”
The hosts greeted Leipzig with a customary 15-minute silent protest to open the match along with banners criticizing their lack of tradition.
Founded in 2009 and owned by Austrian energy drink company Red Bull, Leipzig’s ownership structure is viewed by some traditionalist fans as circumventing German soccer’s rules requiring members’ control of clubs.
Leipzig and Union are the only clubs from the former East Germany in the top flight. Leipzig put six goals past Eintracht Frankfurt in their last match, but chances were scarce for either side in the opening half.
Burke broke the deadlock with 57 minutes gone. The Scotland international collected a Jeong Woo-yeong pass and shifted to his left, curling a shot into the corner.
Leipzig leveled things up almost immediately, teenage forward Gomis scoring his first goal in Leipzig colors just two minutes after coming on.
The visitors’ celebrations were short lived when Union captain and veteran Christopher Trimmel lofted a perfect cross to Ansah, who headed the hosts back in front.
