Thanks to a 4-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach remains unbeaten in the fourth competitive game in a row and also overtakes Lower Saxony in the table.
Rocco Reitz (left) avoids a bad mistake from Koen Casteels (hidden) and scores to make it 2-0 for Gladbach. IMAGO/Ulrich Hufnagel
Gladbach’s coach Gerardo Seoane made two changes after the 3-3 draw in Freiburg: Instead of Ngoumou (bench) and Jordan (muscle injury in the adductor area), Koné (after a red card suspension) and Cvancara started.
Wolfsburg’s coach Niko Kovac surprised with five changes after the 2-2 draw against Bremen. Instead of Pervan (bench), Lacroix (yellow-red suspension) and Svanberg, Majer and Cerny (all bench), Casteels played (first game after injury since the beginning of October), Rogerio, captain Arnold, Kaminski (first starting eleven in the 2023 league/ 24) and Tiago Tomas. In addition to Lacroix, Jenz, who was ill, was also missing from the central defense squad.
Cvancara completes a successful move
The initial phase belonged to Wolfsburg, who had a lot of possession. Gladbach initially waited, but defended well and didn’t allow anything. After around a quarter of an hour, the Fohlenelf became more active themselves – and promptly took the lead with the first attack, which was carried out with vigor: Honorat appeared on the right in the penalty area after a one-two with Plea and served Cvancara in the six-yard box, who executed ice-coldly (15th).
Bundesliga – 11th matchday
While Wolfsburg only had two clear approaches to goal in the entire first half – Arnold with a free kick (26th) and Wind with a powerful long-range shot (36th) – Borussia appeared a bit more alert and determined in their actions.
Reitz punishes Casteels’ faux pas
In the 18th minute, Casteels had just prevented Plea from making it 2-0 with a brilliant save. But because the Belgian keeper made a catastrophic bad pass to Reitz after a goal kick in the final phase of the first half, who immediately made it 2-0 (42nd), Gladbach ultimately deservedly went into the break with a two-goal lead.
After the break, Kovac switched to the left-back position, Cozza replaced Rogerio (46th). It didn’t take a minute before it became clear that Lower Saxony was now acting with significantly more momentum than in the first half. Vranckx started the game just 30 seconds after the restart with a tricky long-range shot that Nicolas just managed to deflect past the post.
Wind on the aluminum – Honorat and Plea meet
And the Wolfsburg team stuck to it against Borussia, who were lurking on the counterattack. Wind shot just centimeters past the goal from around 19 meters (51′) and shortly afterwards even hit the outside post with a shot from 13 meters in a good position (53′). Gladbach faltered in this phase, but did not fall. On the contrary: As in the first half, the first clearer offensive actions followed after around a quarter of an hour, one of which was once again quickly successful. After a corner from Netz, Honorat caught Casteels with a powerful shot into the near corner, which the not-good-looking Belgian could no longer defuse – 3-0 (64th).
But that wasn’t enough, because after a skillfully played counterattack against Wolfsburg, who were now very open, Plea made it 4-0 (71st). It was the final decision, even if Wolfsburg didn’t give up completely. Wind for the guests again with a header (84th) and shortly before Ngoumou (85th), against whom Casteels parried, missed opportunities to score further goals.
After the international break, Gladbach travels to Dortmund for the Borussia duel on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). Wolfsburg hosts Leipzig at the same time.
2023-11-10 21:30:00
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