Borussia Mönchengladbach achieved their third home win in a row and has at least temporarily made it into the top half of the table. Coach Gerardo Seoane’s team won 2-1 (0-0) against TSG Hoffenheim in front of 49,341 spectators at Borussia Park and thus managed a successful dress rehearsal for the round of 16 of the DFB Cup on Tuesday against VfL Wolfsburg (8.45 p.m in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup, on ARD and on Sky).
Alassane Plea with a penalty kick (58th) and Nathan Ngoumou (80th) scored for the home team. Hoffenheim, who had made it 1-1 through Wout Weghorst (60′), have now been waiting for a win for four league games. In addition, the guests’ strong away streak was broken: it was the first defeat in the seventh game on a foreign pitch.
Compared to the 2:4 loss at Borussia Dortmund, Seoane had to rebuild his team in three positions. Ngoumou replaced the injured Jordan in the attack. Florian Neuhaus and Marvin Friedrich moved into the first eleven to replace Julian Weigl (strain) and the sick Maximilian Wöber. Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo changed four positions for the guests – including Andrej Kramaric, who only sat on the bench. In midfield, U-20 international Umut Tohumcu made his starting debut this season.
Seoane gestures wildly to the side
Already in the second minute, striker Maximilian Beier had the chance to take the visitors’ lead early, but in a central position he narrowly missed a cross from Pavel Kaderabek. Hoffenheim put their opponents under pressure early on and won numerous balls in Gladbach’s half – which particularly displeased Seoane. He gestured wildly on the sidelines, hoping to give his newly formed team a little more structure.
But the desired effect did not initially materialize; Moritz Nicolas struggled to direct Anton Stach’s brilliant shot over the goal (19′). The TSG quickly combined forward, only the many crosses found no takers. Towards the end of the first half, the Fohlen team finally became dangerous. But Rocco Reitz (37th) and Plea (45th) each missed from close range.
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With the break, Borussia showed a different picture, a long-range shot from Plea just missed the goal (52nd). Just a few minutes later, Ozan Kabak fouled the Frenchman, who confidently converted the penalty. The joy in Borussia Park didn’t last long, as Weghorst headed in almost in return to equalize. But Gladbach also had an answer, Ngoumou just had to push in after Luca Netz’s preparatory work.
