Sports
Leipzig’s title hopes fade …as late penalty denies them victory over Hertha
RB Leipzig’s faint Bundesliga title hopes were dealt a blow as they had a man sent off in a 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin on Wednesday.
The game was billed as a matchup between the in-form forwards Timo Werner and birthday boy Matheus Cunha, who moved from Leipzig in January, but ironically they were the quietest attacking players for most of the game.
Hertha started brightly and took the lead from a corner with Liverpool loanee Marko Grujic guiding the ball into the net.
The visitors were then dealt an injury blow with Marvin Platternhardt forced off with a head injury, one of a string of incidents where the physio was required.
Julian Nagelsmann’s men often lacked width but eventually found their rhythm and equalised through Christopher Nkunku’s 16th assist of the season as Lukas Klostermann headed in from a corner.
The second half was a tamer affair in comparison and Leipzig’s hopes of victory appeared to have been dashed when Marcel Halstenberg was shown a second yellow card for tripping Cunha.
But Bruno Labbadia, the Berlin club’s fourth coach of the season, saw his side fall behind courtesy of a blunder from keeper Rune Jarstein, who fumbled Patrick Schick’s shot.
Leipzig appeared comfortable with 10 men but conceded a late penalty with substitute Ademola Lookman tripping Cunha. Krzysztof Piatek stepped up to convert the spot kick to salvage a point.
The result means Leipzig remain in third place, two points behind second-placed Dortmund, while the Berlin side climb to 10th. – Eurosport
Otto Addo is taking a calm and focused approach to the World Cup after being drawn against England, Panama, and Croatia in Group L.
“I look forward to every game as special,” he told ghanafa.org.
“Very important for us that we don’t underrate any team. For sure, England is the favourite in that group,” he acknowledged. “But for me as a coach, to be honest, I’m looking at each and every game equally.”
Addo is particularly focused on getting a strong start against Panama. “I’m hoping that we have a good start against Panama, that will be very, very crucial,” he said. “It will make the other games a little bit more relaxed and easier for the players psychologically. We will use the window of March for test matches, and then see,” he said.
Despite being a young team, Addo is proud of his squad’s progress. “I think we did very well in the qualifiers ” he said. “We didn’t lose a single official game, like the qualifying games, we did very well. We just played one draw and the rest we won, so we had quite a good year in 2025, after a bad year in 2024’’.
“Even though we have a very young team, we really, really did well, had a good harmony in the team, good union,” he added.
Ghana will open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Panama in Toronto on June 17 before facing England and Croatia in the other Group L matches on June 23 and 27 respectively.
The unbeaten away run of Accra Hearts of Oak will be put to the test tomorrow when they visit the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale to play as guests of Karela United. Described as one of the top-liners of the weekend games, the match will pitch one of the best home teams against the best away team, with their records on the line.
After playing a pulsating 2-2 draw with Kumasi Asante Kotoko last week, league leaders Medeama SC return to their fortress, the TnA Stadium, to welcome Berekum Chelsea FC in a clash of former league winners. Medeama have struggled in recent times to hold their own against the ‘Bibires’, losing their last four games both home and away.
However, according to Head Coach of Medeama, Tanko Ibrahim, that sequence of results will come to an end tomorrow as they look to crawl out of the claws of their opponents with victory. Eleven points separate the sides, with Berekum Chelsea lying a distant 14th position on the log. They have been a pale shadow of themselves this season, and it remains to be seen if Coach Samuel Boadu’s side can keep the bragging rights over the Yellow and Mauves in what has been described as one of their worse starts to a league season.
Today, second-placed Kpando Heart of Lions will trek to the Kwame Kyei Sports Complex in Abrankese to play as guests of struggling Nations FC. Having suffered a 1-0 away loss to Basake Holy Stars in their last game, Nations FC would look to pick all three points to better their current 12th position.
In other games, the Hohoe Sports Stadium will come alive as new boys Hohoe United FC welcome Kumasi Asante Kotoko. The Nii Adjei Kraku II Sports Complex in Tema will host the Vision FC versus Young Apostles FC game, the Tuba Astro Turf will host the Dreams FC versus Bechem United FC clash, while the Nsenkyire Sports Arena will host the Samartex FC versus Bibiani Gold Stars game. High-riding Aduana FC will sort things out with Basake Holy Stars at the Nana Agyeman Badu I Park in Dormaa.
By Raymond Ackumey
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