Foals score eight goals in first-round triumph

Borussia Mönchengladbach are comfortably through the second round of the DFB-Pokal, seeing off Regionalliga side FC Oberneuland 8-0 in Saturday’s 2020/21 season opener.

300 spectators were allowed inside BORUSSIA-PARK for the first game of the new campaign, with the home venue switch agreed between the clubs due to the simpler task of implementing coronavirus measures at the Bundesliga stadium. The fourth-tier visitors – officially the home side – qualified for the DFB-Pokal by winning Bremen’s regional cup, although it was clear from the start that they were out of their depth against the Foals. A number of shots flew just wide of the target in the opening ten minutes, but once Patrick Herrmann did find the back of the net in the 13th minute, there was no looking back. Flaco added a second less than 60 seconds later and Jonas Hofmann soon added a tidy third. Ramy Bensebaini took the gong for best goal of the day, thundering a right-footed shot past the rooted Oberneuland goalkeeper after 25 mins to make it 4-0, while Nico Elvedi made it five at the break from a header. Gladbach’s second-half performance didn’t have the same ruthlessness about it, with the Regionalliga side even having a couple of dangerous moments themselves before normal service resumed. Florian Neuhaus picked out his spot twice either side of an Ibrahima Traoré goal to ensure a resounding 8-0 win and a place in October’s second-round draw.

TEAM NEWS

Marco Rose – banned from the touchline for the DFB-Pokal tie – opted for a 4-3-3 formation for his side’s first competitive game of the season. Tobias Sippel was given the nod in between the sticks with Yann Sommer rested, while Hannes Wolf made his competitive Borussia debut. Lars Stindl led the team out, having been confirmed as club captain for another season. The full starting XI was as follows: Sippel; Stefan Lainer, Matthias Ginter, Nico Elvedi, Ramy Bensebaini; Christoph Kramer, Jonas Hofmann, Florian Neuhaus; Lars Stindl, Patrick Herrmann, Hannes Wolf.

Alassane Plea and Denis Zakaria both missed the match, with the pair still returning to fitness after injury spells. Meanwhile, Mamadou Doucouré joined up with the U23s instead to gain match practice. Four players were unavailable due to injury: new signing Valentino Lazaro (calf), László Bénes (ankle) Andreas Poulsen (shoulder) and Julio Villalba (muscular problems).

MATCH FACTS

FC Oberneuland: Horsch – Sahan, Schoppenhauer, Bauer, Tyca (54’ Nukic) – Block, Han (62’ Trebin) – Köhler (54’ Kreutzträger), Uzun (74’ Raho), Jobe (74’ Mazreku) – Ifeadigo

Borussia: Sippel – Lainer (46’ Lang), Ginter, Elvedi (46’ Jantschke), Bensebaini (72’ Wendt) – Kramer, Hofmann, Neuhaus – Stindl, Herrmann (62’ Thuram), Wolf (62’ Traoré)

Goals: 0-1 Herrmann (13’), 0-2 Herrmann (14’), 0-3 Hofmann (19’), 0-4 Bensebaini (25’), 0-5 Elvedi (35’), 0-6 Neuhaus (53’), 0-7 Traoré (76’), 0-8 Neuhaus (84’)

Yellow cards: Nukic, Ifeadigo / -

Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)

Attendance: 300