Stindl penalty not enough as 10-man Foals lose to Hoffenheim

Borussia Mönchengladbach were beaten 2-1 at home by TSG Hoffenheim on matchday 13 in the Bundesliga. Lars Stindl’s penalty had given the Foals a half-time lead, but the visitors staged a second-half comeback, helped by a red card for Marcus Thuram.

It was a slow start in the final Bundesliga game of 2020, somewhat unsurprisingly with both sides playing their ninth match in the space of four weeks. Lars Stindl and Hoffenheim’s Robert Skov both came close to testing the goalkeepers with free-kicks around the 15-minute mark, but it took until the 32nd minute before we saw the first clear-cut chance. Florian Neuhaus’ well-timed pass put Breel Embolo in one-on-one with Oliver Baumann, but the Swiss forward dragged his shot wide of the target. The miss was soon forgotten, however, with Marcus Thuram tripped in the box a minute later, allowing Lars Stindl to make it 1-0 from the penalty spot (33’). Hoffenheim almost responded immediately, only for Andrej Kramaric’s fierce strike to rattle the post.

TSG were the better side in the second half and Borussia had to rely on Yann Sommer to keep the lead intact, making good saves against Christoph Baumgartner and Florian Grillitsch. He was left no chance in the 75th minute though, with Ihlas Bebou’s cross easily finished off by an unmarked Kramaric. Soon after, the momentum swung further in Hoffenheim’s favour when Marcus Thuram was sent off for serious unsportsmanlike conduct (77’). Hoffenheim made their man advantage count four minutes from time when Kevin Akpoguma crossed for Ryan Sessegnon to score the winner.

TEAM NEWS

Marco Rose made four changes to the side that drew against Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday, with Valentino Lazaro, Florian Neuhaus, Patrick Herrmann and Breel Embolo coming into the team for Oscar Wendt, László Bénes, Hannes Wolf and Alassane Plea.

Borussia remained without Jonas Hofmann (recovery training), Ramy Bensebaini (coronavirus), while Alassane Plea joined the injury list after picking up a thigh problem against Frankfurt. Jordan Beyer was also suspended after being sent off for the U23s.

MATCH FACTS

Borussia: Sommer – Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Lazaro – Kramer, Neuhaus (83’ Zakaria) – Herrmann (74’ Wolf), Stindl (88’ Traoré), Thuram – Embolo

Hoffenheim: Baumann – Posch (79’ Akpoguma), Vogt, Nordtveit, Sessegnon – Geiger (46’ Rudy), Grillitsch (85’ Adamyan) – Skov (71’ Dabbur), Kramaric, Baumgartner – Belfodil (71’ Bebou)

Goals: 1-0 Stindl (33’, pen.), 1-1 Kramaric (75’), 1-2 Sessegnon (86’)

Yellow cards: Ginter – Geiger, Posch, Rudy

Red cards: Thuram (77’)

Referee: Frank Willenborg (Osnabrück)

Attendance: 0