Foals beaten in the derby

Matchday 13 in the Bundesliga spelled a painful 4-1 derby defeat for Borussia Mönchengladbach against 1. FC Köln.

The first half in front of 50,000 fans at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne was a fairly uneventful affair, with chances few and far between as the two sides battled the game out in midfield. It wasn’t until the second half and Köln’s opener from Dejan Ljubicic in the 55th minute that the game really burst into life. Borussia delivered a response through Jonas Hofmann (74’), only to concede two quickfire goals from Mark Uth (77’) and then Ondrej Duda (78’). Sebastian Andersson’s late header compounded the Foals’ misery as Köln wrapped up a 4-1 win in the third minute of stoppage time.

TEAM NEWS

Adi Hütter made one change from the side that beat Greuther Fürth last week, with Nico Elvedi returning from injury and taking Florian Neuhaus’ place in the starting XI. Elvedi joined Matthias Ginter and Ramy Bensebaini in a back-three in front of Yann Sommer, with Patrick Herrmann and Joe Scally in the right and left wing-back positions respectively. The switch at the back meant that Denis Zakaria returned to the midfield pairing alongside Manu Koné, while Lars Stindl, Jonas Hofmann and Alassane Plea continued in attack.

The Foals were without Breel Embolo, Jordan Beyer (both hamstring), Tony Jantschke (facial fractures), Christoph Kramer (thigh) and Mamadou Doucouré (rehab following Achilles’ tear). It wasn’t just Nico Elvedi who was back in the squad for the trip to Cologne though, as Stefan Lainer also took up a place on the bench for the first time since breaking his ankle against Bayer Leverkusen early in the season.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

14’: The first decent chance for the Foals. Hofmann cuts in from the left and shoots, although it’s easily held onto by goalkeeper Schwäbe.

22’: Modeste gets a shot away on the turn, but he doesn’t get enough behind it, allowing Sommer to comfortably gather the ball.

29’: Good chance for the hosts. Ljubicic collects a cross and lays it off for Duda to shoot from the edge of the box. His low effort is well watched by Sommer though, who gets across his goal to make a save.

35’: Brilliant stuff from Sommer! A corner kick is flicked on to Modeste in the centre and his header looks to be going in, but Sommer produces a remarkable reaction save to push the ball over the crossbar.

41’: Plea drives forward with the ball and has Herrmann in support. The ball to Flaco allows him to shoot first time, forcing Schwäbe into a decent save.

42’: Post! Koné squares the ball to Zakaria 30 yards out and he thunders a shot at goal that clips the outside of the post with the Köln goalkeeper well beaten.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

50’: Plea’s turn and shot from the edge of the box isn’t hit quite cleanly enough and drifts wide of the target.

55’: 1. FC Köln take the lead. Schmitz knocks the ball down to Ljubicic just inside the penalty area and he drills a shot into the top corner via a slight deflection off Bensebaini. 1-0 to Köln.

62’: Almost the leveller! Plea goes for his trademark curler and is only denied by the woodwork. So close to a scorcher.

63’: Özcan plays a through ball into Modeste’s run, although he can only find the side netting.

66’: At the other end, Gladbach come similarly close as Hofmann fires wide following Herrmann’s pass.

67’: Scally gets to the byline and pulls the ball back into the box for Plea, but he is kept out from close range by Schwäbe.

74’: Equaliser! Herrmann picks out Hofmann on the edge of the area and his powerful strike flies into the far corner. 1-1.

77’: Köln back in front. An attempted ball across the backline from Neuhaus is picked off by Uth, who gets the ball out of his feet and fires home via the inside of the post. 2-1 to Köln.

78’: Quickfire double. Elvedi’s clearance hits his own man and drops perfectly for Duda, who is able to get a shot away that is too fast for Sommer to react in time. 3-1 to Köln.

83’: Andersson has a free header on goal, but Sommer makes a fine save at full stretch.

88’: Plea has the ball in the back of the Köln net, but Lainer was in an offside position before playing the ball across to him.

90+3’: Another Köln goal. Andersson is left unmarked in the box once more, and this time Sommer is helpless to stop his header. 4-1 to Köln.

MATCH FACTS

1. FC Köln: Schwäbe – Schmitz, Kilian, Czichos, Hector (51’ Schindler) – Ljubicic (82’ Schaub), Skhiri, Özcan – Duda (83’ Thielmann), Kainz (70’ Uth), Modeste (70’ Andersson) // Unused subs: Urbig (GK), Ehizibue, Hübers, Jorge Meré

Borussia: Sommer – Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini – Herrmann (81’ Lainer), Koné (66 Neuhaus), Zakaria, Scally (81. Netz) – Hofmann, Stindl (66. Thuram), Plea // Unused subs: Sippel (GK), Bénes, Müsel, Noß, Wolf

Goals: 1-0 Ljubicic (55’), 1-1 Hofmann (74’), 2-1 Uth (77’), 3-1 Duda (78’), 4-1 Andersson (90+3’)

Attendance: 50,000 (RheinEnergieStadion)

Yellow cards: Duda / Sommer, Zakaria

Referee: Robert Schröder (Hannover)

Patrick Herrmann made his second consecutive start in Cologne
Stefan Lainer returned for the first time since breaking his ankle on matchday 2
Jonas Hofmann continued his goalscoring form
Lars Stindl made his 225th competitive appearance for Borussia
Denis Zakaria returned to centre midfield

27.11.2021