Nagelsmann happy to trust referee after Bayern complaints over Leipzig equaliser

By Sports Desk January 20, 2023

Julian Nagelsmann was happy to trust the referee's decision despite the fury of Bayern Munich's players after RB Leipzig's equaliser on Friday.

Marcel Halstenberg restored parity early in the second half at Red Bull Arena, cancelling out Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's opener with a scrappy close-range finish.

That goal was enough for Leipzig to claim a 1-1 draw in the first Bundesliga match of 2023 following a 68-day mid-season break – the longest the competition has been halted for during a season since the 1996-97 campaign (69 days).

However, Bayern's players were unhappy Leipzig's equaliser was allowed to stand, with Joshua Kimmich claiming he had been dragged down by Andre Silva in the build-up, while Leon Goretzka also had previously had a goal disallowed for Matthijs de Ligt straying offside.

Those appeals fell on deaf ears, with the VAR not deeming the referee had made a clear error, and Nagelsmann said he was satisfied enough, even though he suggested Kimmich did not go down of his own accord.

He told reporters: "Kimmich won't fall on his own, but in the end I trust the referee."

Nagelsmann instead claimed his team must have done better to defend in the first place.

"I think we can resolve the situation more clearly beforehand, then this scene won't happen at all," he added.

The draw ended a 10-match winning run for Bayern in all competitions, but Nagelsmann was content enough to come away from his former club with a point.

"In the end, you have to take the result as it comes. It was a very wild game at times, but that's normal after such a long time," he told Sat1. 

"We did many things well and many things badly. We can improve certain things. We gave away good opportunities, so the point at the end was fair."

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    Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo expressed his pride in seeing compatriot Ryan Gravenberch show off his qualities ‘to the whole world’ after a fine start to the Premier League season.

    Though the Netherlands pair did not become teammates at Liverpool until late summer of 2023, Gakpo knew well Gravenberch’s talents from their respective Eredivisie spells with PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.

    Now in his second season at Anfield, Gravenberch has drawn widespread plaudits for his form in a new deeper-lying midfield role under new head coach Arne Slot, having largely been used as a substitute under Jurgen Klopp.

    Gravenberch is the only midfielder in Europe's big-five leagues to both make 30+ tackles (30) and 30+ interceptions (33) in all competitions this season, and Gakpo insisted that his Netherlands team-mate can continue to go from strength to strength, starting against Southampton this Sunday.

    “We [the Dutchmen at Liverpool] knew Ryan already from the Eredivisie when he played at Ajax, and I think everybody knew already that he is this good,” Gakpo recently told Men in Blazers.

    “After that, he made a move to Bayern Munich, and maybe he didn’t play that much over there, but still everybody in Holland knew how good he could be when he was playing.

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    Southampton, meanwhile, welcome the Reds to St. Mary’s on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Wolves ahead of the international break, leaving them bottom of the table after 11 games of the season.

    The Saints are the lowest scorers in the Premier League this season (seven), while only Crystal Palace (5.1%) have a lower shot conversion rate than Russell Martin’s side (6.2%). Just 30.1% of Southampton’s shots have been on target this term (34/113), a league-low ratio.

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    "I'm really excited about Sunday. We're playing the best team in the country at the moment, on their current form and what they have been doing with their manager, built on an incredible foundation from the previous manager, so I'm really looking forward to it,” Martin said.

    "I think we showed the guys the Premier League table last season and how much it changed by the end and by the end of December. But it's honestly such an exciting month.

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    PLAYERS TO WATCH

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    In the Saints’ 2-0 defeat to Wolves last time out, the Portuguese contributed a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.22 from his three shots, while only Yukinari Sugawara (10) and Flynn Downes (12) have created more chances in the top-flight than Fernandes (eight) this season.

    Liverpool – Mohamed Salah

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    MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

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    The Reds’ last Premier League game against the Saints was a 4-4 away draw in May 2023 – they conceded as many goals in that game as they had in their previous six visits to St Mary’s combined.

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    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Southampton – 9.7%

    Draw – 12.6%

    Liverpool – 77.7%

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    Khadija Shaw opened the scoring in the 31st minute before Ellen Wangerheim restored parity shortly after the interval with a finish from close range. 

    But Shaw continued her fine start to the campaign, scoring the winner to become City's all-time top scorer in the competition, surpassing Georgia Stanway and Janine Beckie (both six). 

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    Germany will find out their opponents for the Nations League quarter-finals in Friday's draw.

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