LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) – RB Leipzig battled past visitors Sporting 2-1 on Wednesday to earn their first victory in seven Champions League matches and dent their opponents’ hopes of a top eight finish.
Leipzig, who had lost their previous six matches in the newly-created league phase and are already eliminated, took a deserved lead when Benjamin Sesko slid in to connect with a perfectly-timed David Raum cutback in the 19th minute.
Raum, back from an injury that had ruled him out in October, then put the ball in the net himself in the 31st minute but it was ruled offside.
The Portuguese, with coach Rui Borges making his Champions League debut, had their share of chances to level shortly before the break before Leipzig came close themselves when Xavi Simons fired over the bar in the 49th minute.
Amadou Haidara came even closer when his low drive bounced off the post but Sporting substitute Viktor Gyokeres took matters into his own hands, beating defender Willi Orban in a one-on-one before drilling in the equaliser in the 75th.
The visitors’ joy only lasted three minutes before Yussuf Poulsen scrambled the ball over the line for the winner.
Sporting are in 19th place on 10 points, with one game left to play. The top eight teams advance to the round of 16 while the next 16 battle it out in a playoff for a place in the knockout stage.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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