RB Leipzig ends losing streak with victory over Borussia Dortmund in German Cup quarter-final
RB Leipzig secured their spot in the German Cup semi-finals after defeating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 on Wednesday at Red Bull Arena.
The win also ended Leipzig's three-game losing streak across all competitions, which had dropped them to fifth place in the Bundesliga.
From the start, Leipzig pressed high and created numerous opportunities against a struggling Dortmund team that seemed to still be reeling from their 4-2 loss to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Dortmund was unable to stop Leipzig's early attacks or launch any offensive counterattacks of their own. The hosts dominated the game, managing 20 shots to Dortmund's total of two shots, both coming in second-half stoppage time.
"We showed a very good reaction, and now we know again how to win football matches," said Leipzig coach Marco Rose after the game. "I hope it will have a positive effect on us now. When you lose three in a row, you start to question yourself."
"You can make plans and talk a lot, but you need to do it on the pitch, and today we did it and deserved to win," Rose added.
Leipzig took the lead after 22 minutes, with Germany forward Timo Werner tapping in a well-deserved goal. Dortmund briefly tried to fight back in the second half, but Konrad Laimer missed a golden opportunity to score the second goal for Leipzig. Dortmund brought in a third striker, Anthony Modeste, in the 85th minute, but it failed to make a difference.
Instead, it was Leipzig who scored again on the break, with Willi Orban sealing their victory. "They ate us up in the first half," said Dortmund captain Marco Reus. "We stabilized in the second half, but we had few to none chances over 90 minutes and were far too harmless."
Dortmund's recent struggles in all competitions include a Champions League Round of 16 loss to Chelsea. The team has now won only one of their last five matches and have fallen to second place in the Bundesliga, two points behind Bayern Munich with eight games left.
Leipzig's win in the German Cup quarter-finals comes after Bayern Munich was eliminated 2-1 from the competition by Freiburg, and Eintracht Frankfurt advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Union Berlin on Tuesday.