Five-Star Leipzig Hit Back From First-Minute Shock to Thrash Augsburg 5-2

Thirty-eight seconds. That was all it took for the Red Bull Arena to fall silent. Augsburg had barely touched the ball when Arijon Ibrahimović let fly, Maarten Vandevoordt could only push the shot back into danger, and Anton Kade was there to tuck away the rebound. One-nil to the visitors before some supporters had even found their seats, and RB Leipzig — a side that had not lost at home all season — were suddenly chasing a game they were supposed to control. What followed was less a recovery than a statement. Leipzig did not panic. They did not lump the ball forward or abandon their shape. They simply started playing the football that has made their home ground such an unforgiving place to visit, and by half-time the early shock felt like a distant memory. The turning point arrived in the space of two minutes just past the half-hour. Brajan Gruda, the young winger who tormented Augsburg's defence all afternoon, danced down the right and picked out Ezechiel Banzuzi for a measured low finish in the 34th minute. Sixty seconds later Gruda did it again, chipping a ball across the face of goal that Christopher Nkunku could not miss from close range. Two assists, two minutes, game turned on its head. David Raum made it 3-1 just before the break with a free-kick that gave Finn Dahmen no chance at all — a strike hit with the kind of venom that leaves a goalkeeper rooted — and from there the second half became a procession. Nkunku turned provider on the hour, setting up Rômulo for the fourth, and substitute Christoph Baumgartner needed only seconds after coming off the bench to add a fifth, finishing a move started by Antonio Nusa. Baumgartner, back from the injury that ruled him out of the World Cup, now has four goals and an assist since his return. Augsburg, to their credit, never stopped running. Kade twice went close to a second, denied once by Vandevoordt and once by the offside flag, and there was a late consolation of sorts when 20-year-old substitute Uchenna Ogundu scored his first Bundesliga goal deep into stoppage time. It was a bright personal moment on an otherwise grim afternoon for the visitors, who have now gone without a league win since matchday two. For Leipzig, the afternoon carried a milestone as well as three points. Willi Orbán made his 400th competitive appearance for the club, and although his day began with the mistake that led to Kade's opener, he ended it with his side's perfect home record intact. That is the part that will matter most to head coach Martin Demichelis: his team absorbed the worst possible start, trusted their football, and still won by three clear goals. Leipzig stay second in the Bundesliga on 21 points from nine games, and on this evidence the Red Bull Arena remains one of the hardest away trips in Germany. Augsburg, meanwhile, head into the international break with questions to answer — and with the memory of 38 seconds that promised so much and delivered so little.