RB Leipzig 0 Wolves 3 (Sarabia 18 & 62, R Gomes 73)
Wolves rounded off their pre-season tour of the United States with an impressive 3-0 victory over Bundesliga side RB Leipzig in Miami.
Gary O’Neil’s men put in their most complete performance of the summer yet and it was a deflected strike from Pablo Sarabia, who’d got on the end of Matt Doherty’s cross, which opened the scoring.
The Spaniard turned home the second too, following in after Jorgen Strand Larsen had hit the upright. Rodrigo Gomes wrapped up the win after coming off the bench and linking up with Hee Chan Hwang, before firing in off the post.
The Old Gold had spent the best part of two weeks training in the shadows of the Chase Stadium, and on Saturday evening their trip concluded at the home of Inter Miami. Facing Champions League opposition two weeks before the season was deemed an ideal test by O’Neil, and he saw Dan Bentley keep out a deflected effort from Andre Silva early on.
It was a matter of moments later when the deadlock was broken, but at the opposite end. Wolves broke through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and his slipped in Doherty down the right, the Irishman then clipped a deep cross in for Sarabia, whose guided effort took a big deflection to beat Maarten Vandevoort.
Rodrigo Gomes, starting on the left, had looked lively prior to the goal, and soon after he linked up with Hwang, before slicing an effort well off target. O’Neil’s men were the better team and when Sarabia picked out Yerson Mosquera from a corner, the defender will have been disappointed to head over the crossbar.
The first half didn’t go without a classic Florida downpour of rain, sending supporters clambering up the seats in search of shelter, and from there they saw Lois Openda send a snapshot wide of Bentley’s near post.
Half-time | RB Leipzig 0-1 Wolves
All but Mario Lemina returned for the second half, with Tommy Doyle taking his place, and the lively Gomes fashioned the first opening of the half for Sarabia, but he couldn’t test the goalkeeper with his header.
The Spaniard was having a fine evening in Fort Lauderdale however, and shortly after the hour had his second of the game. Once Hwang produced the chop which has become his trademark, Wolves were in business. The South Korea linked up with Doherty, whose deft touch teed up Strand Larsen, and although his effort came back off the post, Sarabia was on hard to turn the rebound in from close range.
The Old Gold were playing some fine football, and the third goal was the best of the lot. Joao Gomes, playing his first minutes of pre-season spread the ball to Rodrigo Gomes, who exchanged passes with Hwang into the Leipzig box and poked home, in off the post to make it three.
Wolves’ dominance continued until the 90, but no further goals were added, as the Old Gold wrapped up the tour with a comprehensive performance and result.
Full-time | RB Leipzig 0-3 Wolves
Leipzig | Vandevoot (Gulasci 45), Simakan, Orban, Elmas, Haidara, Openda (Sesko 62), Seiwald (Schobler 62), Klostermann (Sakir 53), Silva (Poulsen 62), Gebel, Voufack.
Unused subs | Bitshiabu, Ouedraogo, Zingerle, Jatta, Norbye, Ramsak, Bungi, Schuldes, Osawe.
Wolves | Bentley (Sa 68), Doherty (Semedo 68), Mosquera (S Bueno 77), Toti (H Bueno 77), Ait-Nouri, Lemina (Doyle 45), Bellegarde (Gomes 68), Sarabia (Neto 68), R Gomes (Chiquinho 77), Hwang (Guedes 77), Strand Larsen.
Unused subs | King, Dawson, Chirewa, Cundle, Lima, Rawlings.
