Borussia Mönchengladbach brought the year to a positive end on Tuesday night, beating Regionalliga side SV Elversberg 5-0 to reach the last 16 of the DFB-Pokal.
The Foals started strongly in their final game of 2020 at the Ursapharm-Arena in Elversberg, with Hannes Wolf slotting the ball underneath the keeper to turn the first chance of the game into a 1-0 lead (5’). The home side tried to offer a response, but Borussia were solid at the back and soon made it 2-0 with a curling shot from the edge of the box by László Bénes (22’). Fourth-tier Elversberg’s task was made much more difficult around the half-hour mark when Sinan Tekerci was sent off for two quick yellow cards, allowing Marco Rose’s side to take full control. Lars Stindl pounced on a loose ball in the box and nutmegged the goalkeeper to add a third goal before half time and already put the result beyond doubt (35’).
Gladbach unsurprisingly took their foot off the gas in the second 45 and Rose opted to rest players too, giving game time to the likes of Michael Lang, Ibrahima Traoré and Patrick Herrmann. Neat football by Wolf set up Breel Embolo for the first chance of the half, but his effort was straight at the goalkeeper. Goal number four wasn’t too far behind, however. Substitutes Traoré and Herrmann combined, with Flaco brilliantly heading in a cross from the left (69’). He thought he’d made it a quickfire double around five minutes later too, only for the flag to go up after the ball was in the net. Elversberg could have grabbed a consolation goal late on when Kevin Koffi was put in one-on-one, but Tobi Sippel made himself big to keep the clean sheet intact. Borussia even added a fifth themselves in the closing stages. Herrmann won a penalty and Julio Villalba stepped up to convert it for his first Gladbach goal (83’), wrapping up a 5-0 win to secure the Foals’ place in the DFB-Pokal last 16.
TEAM NEWS
There were five changes to the side that started on the weekend against Hoffenheim. Tobias Sippel was given another outing in goal with Yann Sommer rested, while Oscar Wendt, László Bénes, Hannes Wolf and the fit again Jonas Hofmann came in for Valentino Lazaro, Florian Neuhaus, Patrick Herrmann and the suspended Marcus Thuram. Marco Rose was also without Tony Jantschke, who is set to become a father, Alassane Plea (thigh strain) and Ramy Bensebaini (recovery training follow coronavirus).
MATCH FACTS
Elversberg: Lehmann – Feil, Rehfeldt, Conrad, Kohler – Dragon, Dürholtz (84’ Politakis), Dacaj (67’ Mustafic), Suero Fernandez (46’ Karger), Tekerci – Schnellbacher
Borussia: Sippel – Lainer (46’ Lang), Ginter, Elvedi, Wendt – Kramer (78’ Villalba), Bénes – Hofmann (46’ Traoré), Stindl (64’ Neuhaus), Wolf– Embolo (64’ Herrmann)
Goals: 0-1 Wolf (5’), 0-2 Bénes (22’), 0-3 Stindl (35’), 0-4 Herrmann (69’), 0-5 Villalba (83’, pen.)
Yellow cards: Tekerci / Bénes
Red cards: Tekerci (31’)
Referee: Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)
Attendance: 0
