A goal and an assist from Harvey Simons and a brace from Luis Openda helped RB Leipzig beat Cologne 5-1 away on Friday to move above Borussia Dortmund into the top four. Simons put in another masterclass performance as Leipzig’s attacking midfield fulcrum, while showcasing his chemistry with summer signing Onda, who has scored 19 league goals this season. Simmons scored two goals when the two teams met earlier this season to help the team achieve a 6-0 record, and now has 11 assists and seven goals in 25 games this season.
Simons joined Leipzig on a season-long loan from his parent club Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Leipzig have increasingly relied on the Dutchman this season, with manager Marco Rose saying this week that he was “very optimistic” the 20-year-old would stay beyond the end of the campaign.
Leipzig defender David Laum, who was named in Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany squad on Thursday, told DAZN: “Of course it was fun at the end but very hard.
“We didn’t take our chances in the first half but we took them in the second half – when we take our chances you can see our potential.”
Those three points could be crucial as Leipzig battle with Dortmund for the final Champions League spot.
Dortmund are now two points behind Leipzig and can regain the lead with a win if they host sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
“It was a really good performance on the road. We scored some good goals, some really good goals,” Rose said.
Leipzig, fresh off their first two consecutive wins of the season, brought energy early and took the lead through Simons after 15 minutes.
Simons completed a wonderful short pass and Dani Olmo passed the ball to Benjamin Sesco, who found the goalkeeper.
Cologne struck back just three minutes later when Sargis Adamyan converted a corner kick at the far post.
Openda’s 26th-minute goal was ruled out for offside, but the Belgian broke through midway through the second half to receive a perfect pass from Simons.
Openda scored again just four minutes later, with Raum heading in his 19th league goal of the season.
“In training, sometimes he hits the ball over the fence and into the forest, but today he was perfect,” Laum said after the game.
Openda substitute Yussuf Poulsen scored the fourth goal with 20 minutes remaining, with a low shot from Amadou Haidara. The fifth ball.
Cologne’s 14th defeat in 26 games this season leaves them in the relegation play-off position, seven points from safety with eight games remaining.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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