The opening game of matchday 25 in the Bundesliga saw Borussia Mönchengladbach beaten 3-1 by FC Augsburg on Friday night, extending the Foals' winless run to seven games in the top flight.
Gladbach took the initiative from the off at the WWK Arena and had a great chance to go ahead early on through Florian Neuhaus, but his shot was blocked by the onrushing goalkeeper (5’). Lars Stindl and Valentino Lazaro also found themselves in behind in the opening 20 minutes, but neither were able to test Rafal Gikiewicz in the Augsburg goal. The one-way traffic continued throughout the half, however, the clinical edge was still missing. After Marcus Thuram was tripped in the penalty area, the usually reliable Stindl stepped up from twelve yards, only to fire wide (38’). It was the first missed spot-kick of the season following eleven previously successful attempts and meant that the game was still deadlocked at the interval.
The second half started in the worst possible fashion, with the until then harmless Augsburg taking the lead through Ruben Vargas’ header from a corner (52’). Borussia picked up the tempo and after Thuram had a powerful shot pushed around the post (63’), Neuhaus was able to beat the FCA goalkeeper with his curling effort through a crowded box to level the scores in the 68th minute. He almost added his second to complete the turnaround soon after with a well-placed volley, but Gikiewicz was quick to get down and make the save (71’). With the Foals pushing, Augsburg were starting to find gaps on the counter and Marco Richter took advantage of a fortunate deflection to restore the hosts’ lead in the 76th minute. Borussia opened up in search of another equaliser and Andre Hahn finished off a quick counterattack to confirm a painful defeat (89’).
Marco Rose made three changes to the side that was beaten by Leverkusen last weekend. Lars Stindl returned from suspension and Jonas Hofmann was back to full fitness, while Oscar Wendt replaced the unavailable Ramy Bensebaini. Hannes Wolf and Denis Zakaria also dropped to the bench.
The Foals remained without Christoph Kramer (ankle), joining Bensebaini, Torben Müsel and Julio Villalba on the injury list.
MATCH FACTS
FC Augsburg: Gikiewicz – Framberger, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Gumny – Strobl (67’ Oxford), R. Khedira, Caligiuri (67’ Gruezo), Bénes (46’ Vargas), Hahn (90+2’ Sarenren Bazee) – Richter (90+2’ Gregoritsch)
Borussia: Sommer – Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Wendt (78’ Herrmann) – Hofmann, Neuhaus – Lazaro, Stindl, Thuram (78’ Embolo) – Plea
Goals: 1-0 Vargas (52’), 1-1 Neuhaus (68’), 2-1 Richter (76’), 3-1 Hahn (89’)
Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)
Attendance: 0
