Bundesliga: Gladbach loses 0-1 in Augsburg

BOrussia Mönchengladbach is finally in danger of losing touch with the international places in the Bundesliga. At the end of the first half of the season, coach Daniel Farke’s team deservedly lost 0-1 (0-0) after a poor performance at FC Augsburg, who were threatened with relegation, made the wrong start to the new year with their second defeat and continued to stagger towards mid-table.

Under-21 European champion Mergim Berisha (82′) scored the hosts’ long-awaited liberation. Coach Enrico Maaßen’s team broke their series of eight games without a win with another courageous performance and got the urgently needed breathing room in the relegation battle before the start of the second half of the season.

“The team went onto the pitch with a lot of conviction. It was a deserved and important home win,” said sports director Stefan Reuter on Sky. Gladbach’s Julian Weigl, on the other hand, spoke of a “big disappointment” and quarreled: “We played a decent first half. In the second half we got involved in the Augsburg game and hardly played any football ourselves. Then they were simply more grippy and got chances to score that we hardly ever had.”

National player Jonas Hofmann, who was not available due to illness, was briefly absent from Gladbach. Nathan Ngoumou moved to the right wing position, Hofmann’s place in the starting lineup was taken by Marcus Thuram, who has recovered from knee problems.

However, what Farke calls “the best striker in the Bundesliga” didn’t get too many chances to excel. While Borussia mostly looked in vain for gaps in the good Augsburg defence, FCA came dangerously in front of the Gladbach goal early on, including through Arne Maier (6th). After a strong counterattack by Berisha (9th), who returned after serving a yellow card suspension, Borussia goalkeeper Jonas Omlin had to intervene for the first time.

Meanwhile, his opponent Rafal Gikiewicz saw how his team remained the much more dangerous side in a rather uneventful game until the break. The referee Daniel Schlager took back the supposed opening goal by winter newcomer Dion Beljo (36th) due to an offside position – a millimeter decision.

Augsburg’s dominance continued in the second half, and unlike in the first half, Gladbach was barely able to break free. Among other things, Ermedin Demirovic (52nd) forced the Swiss Omlin to make a brilliant save, captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (63rd) hit the post with a powerful header. The Augsburgers were not able to keep up the pace of attack until the end, but Berisha’s remarkable goal after a cross from substitute Kelvin Yeboah was enough to win. Because Gladbach had no answer to the deficit in the final phase.