Penalty sees RB Leipzig claim slender advantage

A second-half penalty from Timo Werner means it's advantage RB Leipzig after the first leg of our Champions League round of 16 tie at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The visitors scored the only goal of the game from the spot on 58 minutes after Ben Davies had brought down Konrad Laimer, Werner converting past the superb Hugo Lloris from 12 yards. And they could have scored more as they dominated the first half as we fielded a team missing the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Moussa Sissoko.

It was a much better performance after the interval though, with Leipzig thankful to their goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi for a couple of fine saves to keep out free-kicks from Giovani Lo Celso and substitute Erik Lamela. But we couldn’t find parity and now head to Germany for the return leg on 10 March hoping for another dramatic European night from our boys.

It might have been the visitors’ first-ever knockout game in the Champions League, but they started like a train, with four shots in the opening 75 seconds. Patrik Schick fired wide from the edge of the area and in the next attack, Werner’s close range effort was blocked by Davinson Sanchez, Angelino smashed the rebound off Lloris and against the post before our skipper saved again from Werner and we survived. Our first sight of goal came on eight minutes when Lo Celso found Steven Bergwijn who cut onto his right foot and curled towards the far corner from 12 yards but Gulacsi palmed his effort away, before Schick brought another save out of Lloris from distance and then headed Christopher Nkunku’s corner just wide of the far post on 17 minutes.

Lo Celso brought some much needed drive and energy to our game on the half-hour when he surged down the left flank from deep inside our half, his pass to Bergwijn seeing us win a corner which ended with Gedson - in for his second start in our colours as one of two changes from the weekend's win at Aston Villa - firing high and wide from the edge of the area. At the other end, the visitors carved out another good chance when Werner found himself with just Lloris to beat in the left channel inside the area, but again the keeper was equal to his effort and kept the scores level.

Just on the stroke of half-time, Dele Alli showed good skills right on the byline but couldn’t get a pass through to waiting team-mates in the six-yard box. As the half-time whistle blew, it was somewhat surprising to see a goalless scoreline considering the 15 shots in that first period, 12 to the visitors.

We made a bright start to the second period though, forcing Gulacsi into an early save when Lucas Moura poked Serge Aurier’s teasing low cross towards goal, with Bergwijn half-volleying the rebound wide. But Leipzig were awarded a penalty in the 56th minute after Laimer chested the ball in the area and was upended by Davies, who could have no complaints at the decision. Werner stepped up and drove low and hard towards Lloris’ right-hand post, the keeper going the correct way but unable to reach the ball.

We looked for an immediate response, Lo Celso testing Gulacsi with a 25-yard drive that the Leipzig keeper did well to gather, while our own custodian made a magnificent save moments later when Werner dummied Angelino’s low cross into the box and Schick looked like he was going to tuck home number two but Lloris dived to his left and parried the shot away. The Frenchman was proving a real nemesis for the visitors all evening.

It was so nearly all square in the 73rd minute when we were awarded a free-kick 25 yards from the Leipzig goal after Nkunku had fouled Lo Celso. The Argentine took the set-piece himself and curled left-footed around the wall only for Gulacsi to pull off a stunning diving save to tip the ball onto the post and away for a corner. And he repeated the feat 12 minutes later, not quite as spectacular a save but important all the same as Gulacsi this time dived to his left to keep out substitute Lamela’s 30-yard free-kick. The visitors were happy to defend what they had which allowed us to build up a bit of pressure in the closing stages, with Lucas heading over the bar after Marcel Halstenberg had completely missed Davies’ cross. The lively Harry Winks fired straight at Gulacsi from distance but that was our last chance as the night ended in defeat.

Key moment

Although there was only one goal in the game, each side had five shots on target with the goalkeepers well to the fore to prevent any addition to the scoreline. Gulacsi’s excellent stop to deny Lo Celso with 17 minutes remaining was a big moment in the game, but you could argue that Lloris’ save from Schick at 1-0 was even more important.

A flowing move ended with the Leipzig man with time and space inside the area and he only had our skipper to beat just beyond the hour mark. A second goal for the German side would almost certainly have killed off the tie, but Lloris showed all his qualities to pull off a superb save and ensure that, at only 1-0 down, we still have a fighting chance in the return.

Jose's view

Jose Mourinho said: "1-0 is 1-0, it’s not 10-0, the result is open, it’s as simple as that. We wouldn’t be the first team to lose a game at home 1-0 and to win the tie away. Why shouldn’t we believe? The thing that keeps me confident is the spirit, the mentality of my players. It’s what they are not just as players, but especially what they are as guys, as a group, a fantastic group of players. One thing I can guarantee, because this is the mentality of my players, is that we are going there to fight to our limits."

Reaction on Spurs TV

Match data

Goal: RB Leipzig – Werner 58 (pen).

Yellow cards: Spurs – Lo Celso, Davies, Lamela; RB Leipzig – Sabitzer, Werner, Nkunku.

Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey).

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Light cloud, moderate breeze, eight degrees.

Attendance: 60,095.