The Foals were beaten 1-0 away at FC Augsburg on matchday 5.
12,500 fans at the WWK-Arena saw a hard-fought game, in which Gladbach enjoyed more possession but lacked a cutting edge. FCA focused on staying compact at the back and were mainly dangerous from set pieces. Despite stepping up the pressure after the break, Borussia couldn’t carve out any clear-cut chances. Instead, Florian Niederlechner scored in the 80th minute for the hosts to seal the win. Having already been beaten 4-0 at Leverkusen and 2-1 at Union, this was Gladbach’s third defeat from three away games this season.
TEAM NEWS
Head coach Adi Hütter made just one change to the team that beat Arminia Bielefeld at home last time out. Patrick Herrmann started in place of the injured Jonas Hofmann. The Austrian again went with a back-three in front of Yann Sommer, with Jordan Beyer, Matthias Ginter and Nico Elvedi in front of the Swiss goalkeeper. Joe Scally and Luca Netz played out wide, as Denis Zakaria began in central midfield. The attack consisted of Patrick Herrmann, Florian Neuhaus, Lars Stindl and Alassane Plea.
Borussia were without Jonas Hofmann (muscular problems), Marcus Thuram (knee), Stefan Lainer (broken ankle), Ramy Bensebaini (groin) and Mamadou Doucouré (Achilles). Manu Koné was in the squad for the first time after recovering from a knee injury suffered in pre-season, although he didn’t come off the bench,
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
11’: Gladbach’s first shot. Zakaria’s effort is deflected by Gouweleeuw, landing on the roof of the net.
36’: That was close. Oxford misses Caligiuri’s cross at the back post by just centimeters.
43’: Another dangerous Caligiuri delivery. This time, his free-kick goes all the way through and hits the far post.
SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
51’: A great move sees Stindl play Plea in behind. The striker slots home, however the flag is up for offside and it doesn’t count.
67’: Stindl heads a free-kick well over the bar at the back post.
80’: Augsburg’s first notable attack of the second half results in a goal. Vargas cuts it back to Niederlechner, who takes it first time and beats Sommer – 1-0.
MATCH FACTS
Augsburg: Gikiewicz - Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Oxford - Framberger (66’ Cordova), Dorsch, Iago (44’ Pedersen), Hahn, Caligiuri (85’ Jensen) – Zeqiri (66’ Niederlechner), Vargas (85’ Maier)
Borussia: Sommer – Beyer, Ginter, Elvedi – Scally, Netz (46’ Wolf) – Zakaria, Neuhaus (85’ Bénes), Herrmann (81’ Embolo), Stindl – Plea / Unused subs: Sippel, Jantschke, Kramer, Koné, Noß, Bennetts
Goal: 1-0 Niederlechner (80’)
Attendance: 12,500
Yellow cards: Hahn – Beyer, Zakaria
Referee: Florian Badstübner (Windsbach)
