RBL draw 1-1 with Atalanta in Europa League quarter final first leg
Tie still square after first leg | Own goal in second half cancels out Muriel opener | Second leg to take place at same time next week
RB Leipzig bounced back from an concession to draw 1-1 in the first Europa League quarter-final tie. Luis Muriel opened the scoring (17’) to give his side the lead at the break, before Davide Zappacosta’s own goal (58’) levelled things up.
Christopher Nkunku had the first effort of the game, but his low shot from outside the area was saved by goalkeeper Juan Musso (7’). Soon after, Nkunku had another chance but couldn’t turn Benjamin Henrichs’ ball goalwards (11’). At the other end, Muriel cut in from the left and curled a right-footed shot into the top corner to give the visitors the lead (17’). The Colombian forward almost doubled the lead from a similar position three minutes later but pushed his shot across the face of goal.
André Silva almost found the perfect response in the 24th minute, but his shot struck the base of the post. The woodwork was then hit on the stroke of half time, when Teun Koopmeiners dribbled down the byline and played a shot/pass into the post.
In the second half, referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot after a foul on Christopher Nkunku in the 56th minute, but Musso pulled off a good save to deny André Silva’s spot kick before parrying Willi Orban’s headed rebound. Just seconds later, however, the scores were level again after Davide Zappacosta turned Angeliño‘s cross into his own net (58’).
Atalanta substitute Giorgio Scalvini missed a good chance in the 64th minute when he put a shot clean over the bar, before Koopmeiners was denied by the woodwork again just a minute later. Substitute Dominik Szoboszlai then dived to head Angeliño’s cross at the back post but saw his header bounce back off the bar (82’), before fellow substitute Nordi Mukiele’s shot was cleared off the line by an Atalanta defender in the first minute of added time.
After a lively and well-matched game, the two sides are still unable to be separated. The second leg will take place on Thursday (14th April) at 18:45 CEST at the Gilette Stadium.
Statistics:
RB Leipzig:
Gulácsi (C) - Angeliño, Orbán, Klostermann, Nkunku (87' Novoa), Olmo (73' Szoboszlai), Laimer, Gvardiol (73' Halstenberg), Silva (62' Forsberg), Henrichs (87' Mukiele), Kampl
Unused subs: Simakan, Tschauner, Martínez, Raebiger
Atalanta Bergamo:
Musso - Palomino, Koopmeiners, Muriel (61' Zapata), Freuler (C) (67' Miranchuk), de Roon, Demiral, Pessina (61' Scalvini), Hateboer, Zappacosta (89' Pezzella), Pasalic (61. Boga)
Unused subs: Malinovskyi, Mihalla, Rossi, Cittadini, Sportiello
Goals:
0-1 Muriel (17'), 1-1 Zappacosta (own goal, 58')
Yellow cards:
Gvardiol, Halstenberg | Palomino
Match officials:
Michael Oliver (referee), Stuart Burt (assistant), Simon Bennett (assistant), William Collum (fourth official), Paul Tierney (VAR), Lee Betts (VAR assistant)
Attendance:
36,029 | RB Arena
First half highlights:
1st minute:
Here we go! The red and white of Leipzig take on the blue and black of Atalanta.
7th minute:
Christopher Nkunku with the first shot of the game. He tries a low effort from outside the area but it's no problem for Juan Musso in the opposition goal.
11th minute:
Benjamin Henrichs delivers a sliced ball into the box and Christopher Nkunku gets there, but he can't direct it goalwards.
17th minute, goal for Atalanta:
Luis Muirel dribbles on the left and cuts in. before shooting into the far top right corner.
20th minute:
Muriel is causing more problems from a similar position, this time he shoots with his left and the shot goes across the face of goal.
24th minute:
Post! Silva shoots from around twelve metres out and it bounces back off the post.
45th minute:
Teun Koopmeiners attacks down the byline and tries to centre the ball. Gulácsi has it covered and it's into the side netting.
Half time:
After Muriel put his team ahead, Leipzig came close as Silva hit the post, but the visitors lead by a goal after 45 minutes.
Second half highlights:
46th minute:
Back underway for the second half. Come on, RBL!
53rd minute:
Muriel tests Pete again, but it's no problem for our number 1.
56th minute:
Penalty for RBL! Nkunku is brought down in the area as he tries to create some space.
58th minute:
André Silva steps up and his shot is saved by Musso. The goalkeeper then reacts brilliantly to parry Orban's rebound header.
58th minute, GOAL for RBL:
There it is! Angeliño crosses and, under pressure from Orban, Zappacosta turns it into his own net.
64th minute:
Substitute Scalvini shoots over the bar from a good position.
65th minute:
Post again! Koopmeiners again, who shoots low from some distance. The ball rebounds out and strikes Gulácsi in the back and behind for a corner.
81th minute:
Intense closing stages! It's a bit end to end here.
82nd minute:
Another Angeliño cross creates trouble, and substitute Szoboszlai dives to meet it but heads onto the bar.
90th minute:
A rapid counter attack from RBL leads to a corner. Nordi Mukiele gets the best chance from the set piece, but his shot is cleared off the line by an Atalanta defender! That would have been the winner!