Borussia Mönchengladbach were unable to overcome Bayer 04 Leverkusen on matchday 24 of the Bundesliga, with the 1-0 defeat spelling a sixth successive top-flight match without a win.
It was clear in the first half that neither side wanted to make the first mistake. The visitors were enjoying more of the ball, but there were few clear openings for either side. Alassane Plea’s first-time effort was straight at Lennart Grill (24’), while Yann Sommer stood his ground at the other end to keep out Moussa Diaby and then Patrik Schick (32’).
The Foals started the second half stronger and Marcus Thuram won a penalty just before the hour mark when he was felled by Emmanuel Frimpong ghosting in at the back post. However, Valentino Lazaro was offside as he attempted an overhead kick in the build-up and VAR overturned the decision (57’). Bad luck remained on Borussia’s side as Leverkusen took the lead from a rare counterattack, with Sommer even able to brilliantly save initially from Diaby, but Schick followed up to tuck away the rebound (76’). Gladbach pushed for an equaliser but their only opportunity saw Matthias Ginter’s effort tipped over by Grill, leaving the Foals without a win in their last six Bundesliga matches.
TEAM NEWS
There were four changes to Marco Rose’s side compared to the DFB-Pokal quarterfinal against Dortmund on Tuesday. Yann Sommer returned in goal in place of Tobias Sippel, while injuries to Christoph Kramer (ankle ligament) and Jonas Hofmann (muscular problem), plus suspension for Lars Stindl, saw the trio replaced by Denis Zakaria, Hannes Wolf and Valentino Lazaro.
MATCH FACTS
Borussia: Sommer – Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini –Zakaria, Neuhaus – Lazaro (81’ Herrmann), Wolf, Thuram (81’ Traoré) – Plea (70’ Embolo)
Bayer 04: Grill – Frimpong, Tah, Tapsoba, Wendell – Aranguiz, Amiri, Demirbay – Diaby, Gray – Schick
Goals: 0-1 Schick (76’)
Yellow cards: Amiri, Schick
Referee: Daniel Sieber (Berlin)
Attendance: 0
