RB Leipzig inflicted back-to-back defeats on Aston Villa with a 2-0 victory over the Villans in New Jersey.
Goals from Andre Silva and Lois Openda were enough for the German side as Villa's Diego Carlos was shown two yellow cards, forcing Villa to play the second half with ten men.
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Two losses on the bounce for struggling Villa
Villa were looking to bounce back after a 4-1 thumping to Columbus Crew on Sunday morning. However fans who stayed up to watch the one o'clock kick-off were left disappointed.
Leipzig opened the scoring in the 17th minute thanks to Portuguese striker Andre Silva. Ross Barkley was robbed of the ball on the edge of the box by a relentless Amadou Haidara. The Malian midfielder ran at Robin Olsen and squared the ball to Silva, who had the easiest finish of his career as of yet, finishing into an open net.
The consequences of playing out from the back every time.
The rewards of it can be astonishing. However, in the certain instance when it does not go to plan, it leaves the attacking team through on goal like Villa fans witnessed tonight.
Does it become predictable? Yes. Will every team in the Premier League continue to do it? You bet.
From the opening 20 minutes of the fixture it was clear to see that Unai Emery wanted to get Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley on the ball as much as possible, which did not always pay off.
On a positive note, Onana really did look the real deal prior to Villa being taken down to ten.
30 minutes in and Robin Olsen was forced off due to a head injury that he suffered in the buildup to Leipzig's opener. Haidara's knee caught the Sweden international in the face leaving him no choice to be replaced.
20 year-old Oliwier Zych would play the remaining hour of the encounter.
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The battle of New Jersey
All hell let loose in the 40th minute when Lois Openda doubled Leipzig's lead. His initial flicked effort was saved by Zych but he finished the rebound with no trouble into a keeperless goal.
After the ball hit the back of the net, Diego Carlos and Openda clashed and it was to be the last round of a scrap that had been heating up throughout the opening 40 minutes.
Carlos' hand made contact with the Belgian's chest, sending him diving to the floor. This resulted in a second yellow card for Carlos, his first also came with an off-the-ball incident with Openda in the 27th minute.
From this moment on, it was game over. Emery would not have been a happy man walking down the tunnel at the break. Down to ten men in a pre-season friendly. Not ideal, not one bit.
It almost feels like a friendly game wasted for Villa. These matches are all about preparing the squad for the season ahead and implementing any new changes to the system. Simply, this can not happen when you are a player short.
If there was an option to end the game after Carlos's red, Emery would have probably taken it.
From the first half intensity and ferocity on display, the viewers were left feeling like they had tuned into one of Villa's Champions League affairs. For saying this game was Leipzig's opening pre-season fixture, they for sure looked sharper than Villa.
The entirety of the eleven players out on the grass would change throughout the second half progressively.
This saw Jacob Ramsey get his first taste of game time since the foot injury he suffered in March whilst Emiliano Buendia was also treated to 30 minutes.
Yussuf Poulsen thought he got a third for Leipzig in the 57th minute after converting a first-time effort. However, the producer of the cross, Mohamed Simakan, narrowly strayed offside. By this time Villa were getting dominated.
The remainder of the game was played like a training session. Attack vs Defence as Villa remained in a tight shape, not allowing Leipzig to add to their two goals.
Ultimately, it was another disappointing performance. We have not seen the best of any player as of yet in the first four friendly matches.
The red card obviously does not help the matter, however, even before the sending off, Villa did not create a clear cut chance.
Amadou Onana probably looked the most threatening player on Villa's half before he was moved into a centre-back role with Pau Torres to replace Carlos. He will be a player to keep an eye out on for the upcoming season.
Everything looks a bit stiff, it is sure to say though that the free-flowing football that Villa fans have been treated to over the past couple of years cannot be too far away again.
The Villans are back in action on Saturday night when they face Mexican champions, Club America. This match kicks off at 10:30pm UK time.
