Werder Bremen snatch a point to spoil RB Leipzig's party
Leipzig began the match with urgency and came within inches of breaking the deadlock inside the opening minute when Castello Lukeba volleyed against the post after Anthony Jung’s attempted clearance fell into his path.
Xavi Simons was looking to drift into pockets of space, and he intercepted Jung before firing a sliding attempt wide of the far post.
Bremen were struggling to cope with the Red Bulls’ movement but suddenly kicked up a gear when Lukeba made a superb clearance off the line to keep out Rafael Borre's header before the Colombian flashed a separate attempt wide.
The tide of the match had turned completely, and Jens Stage blasted his effort over the bar after seemingly having acres of space inside the Leipzig box.
The visitors thought they opened the scoring in the 41st minute thanks to Yussuf Poulsen, but a VAR review determined that the Dane was in an offside position after heading home on the rebound from Amadou Haidara's original shot which cannoned off the post.
Loïs Openda ended a mini-drought of three games without a goal to open the scoring two minutes after the re-start. He latched onto Forsberg’s pass and showed brilliant persistence to slot the ball home at the third attempt, after being thwarted twice by Michael Zetterer.
It was Forsberg’s 48th and final Bundesliga assist ahead of his January move to New York Red Bulls.
The hosts were looking for a response, and it nearly came from Marvin Ducksch after he was allowed to turn inside the box, only to fire over the bar with his subsequent attempt.
Openda should have doubled the Red Bulls’ lead following some sloppy Bremen defending, but Zetterer came to the rescue on this occasion.
It would turn out to be a crucial save, as Justin Njinmah equalised with a superbly crafted individual goal, taking a touch before sending a curling strike beyond the outstretched Janis Blaswich.
The draw was arguably a fair reflection on the contest, and it would have been hard to begrudge Ole Werner’s side a draw against Marco Rose’s Bundesliga high-flyers. They have now only won one of their last seven league games, but there will be plenty of optimism after this result.
Meanwhile, this will be seen as a blow for Leipzig, who are six points adrift of Bayer Leverkusen having played a game more than Xabi Alonso’s table-toppers.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Michael Zetterer (Werder Bremen)
