RB Leipzig blow away Energie Cottbus | OneFootball

There was little sign of “friendship” at the Stadion der Freundschaft tonight as Leipzig showed no mercy, sweeping aside their 3. Liga hosts with goals from Christoph Baumgartner, Johan Bakayoko and Ezechiel Banzuzi.

As expected, the home side sat deep early on, looking to frustrate Leipzig and hit on the counter with the backing of a raucous home crowd. Merveille Biankadi even forced Maarten Vandevoordt into action with a fierce drive, but that was as good as it got for Energie.

Moments later, Leipzig struck the first blow. Bakayoko collected the ball on the edge of the area, cut inside unopposed and drilled a low effort past the motionless Marius Funk to open the scoring.

The goal took the wind out of Cottbus, and Leipzig began to dominate proceedings. Their pressure told again in the 28th minute when David Raum’s pinpoint corner found Baumgartner completely unmarked to head home for 2-0.

Less than ten minutes later, the same duo combined again - this time from a clever free-kick routine. With the Cottbus defence caught napping expecting a lofted delivery, Baumgartner darted across goal to meet Raum’s quick pass, poking beyond the onrushing Funk to make it 3-0 before the break.

Werner’s side showed no signs of easing off after half-time, keeping Cottbus penned in their own half. Just before the hour mark, Ridle Baku slipped a pass through to Banzuzi, who took his time to turn inside the box and finish low past Funk to make it a ruthless 4-0 scoreline.

From there, Leipzig controlled the tempo with ease, content to see out the match. The hosts eventually found a late consolation through substitute Erik Engelhardt in the 86th minute, slotting under Vandevoordt to give the home fans something to cheer.

In the end, it was a comfortable and professional performance from Leipzig, the gulf in divisions clear from the first whistle. Werner will be satisfied with his team’s efficiency as they now turn their focus to Saturday’s Bundesliga clash with Stuttgart. For Cottbus, it’s a night to quickly forget as they return to 3. Liga duties away to 1860 München.