Ten-man Borussia suffer first defeat of the season

Matchday 5 in the Bundesliga was rounded off at BORUSSIA-PARK on Sunday evening, where the Foals were beaten 1-0 by 1. FSV Mainz 05. Gladbach played the final 35 minutes with ten men following a straight red card for Ko Itakura.

51,210 spectators in Mönchengladbach saw a first half with two sides. The visitors from Mainz started strongly and had two big chances early on, but Borussia grew into the game and should have been in front at the break. A red card for Ko Itakura after he brought Karim Onisiwo down as the last man was made worse when the resulting free-kick was curled into the top corner by Aaron Martin (55’). Despite being a man down, Gladbach put up a tough fight in the second half, but were unable to find an equaliser.

TEAM NEWS

Head coach Daniel Farke made just the one change to the side that drew 1-1 at Bayern last weekend, with Ramy Bensebaini back from a cold and replacing Luca Netz. Otherwise, it was business as usual. Yann Sommer was in goal, Bensebaini joined Nico Elvedi, Ko Itakura and Joe Scally in the back four, Christoph Kramer and Manu Koné lined up in midfield behind Jonas Hofmann, Florian Neuhaus and Alassane Plea, with Marcus Thuram leading the line.

The Foals were only without Stefan Lainer (swollen knee). Nathan Ngoumou and Julian Weigl were in the matchday squad following their arrivals before the transfer deadline, and both came on in the second half for their Borussia debuts. There were two enforced changes during the game, as both Elvedi and Plea had to come off with knocks.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

6’: Mainz with the first chance of the game. A cross from Aaron finds Widmer at the back post and Sommer reacts well to push his header over the bar.

7’: Another dangerous moment from the resulting corner. Bensebaini clears a header on the line and the rebound from Barreiro requires a brilliant stop down to his right from Sommer.

22’: Double chance for Thuram. The Frenchman is first denied by Hack, before Zentner manages to keep out the follow-up with his chest.

31’: An almost perfect counterattack! Thuram, Neuhaus and Plea combined to drive up the pitch. Plea feeds the ball to Thuram inside the box and his shot rattles the crossbar.

33’: It should be 1-0. Borussia are in two-on-one after a miskick from Leitsch. Thuram looks to square the ball, but Kohr gets back to intercept the pass before it can be tapped in by Neuhaus.

43’: Another brilliant breakaway from the Foals. Plea dinks a ball into the run of Neuhaus who moves it on to Thuram, but Zentner closes down the angle and smothers the shot.

45+2’: It’s just not going Thuram’s way. A zipped cross from Plea is met by the outstretched toes of Tikus in the six-yard box, but he can’t quite get enough on the ball and the shot slips wide.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

48’: The Foals pick up where they left off in the first half. Hofmann lays the ball off for Koné from 25 yards and his first-time effort requires a hand from Zentner to push it wide.

55’: Double blow. Itakura brings down Onisiwo as the last man and is sent off. The resulting free-kick is then buried into the top corner by Aaron. No chance for Sommer. 1-0 to Mainz.

65’: Great interplay as Hofmann gets the ball back from Scally with a neat one-two, but the Germany international doesn’t get enough power behind his shot to trouble Zentner.

86’: Stindl has the ball in the back of the net, but he was marginally offside when he received the pass from Koné.

MATCH FACTS

Borussia: Sommer – Scally (81’ Ngoumou), Itakura, Elvedi (46‘ Friedrich), Bensebaini – Kramer, Koné (87’ Weigl) – Hofmann, Neuhaus, Plea (52’ Stindl) – Thuram // Unused subs: Sippel, Jantschke, Herrmann, Netz, Wolf

Mainz: Zentner - Bell, Hack, Leitsch (80’ Fernandes) - Widmer, Barreiro (58’ Fulgini), Kohr, Aaron, Burkardt (75’ Burgzorg), Lee (58’ Stach) – Onisiwo (80‘ Mustapha)

Goals: 0-1 Aaron (55’)

Attendance: 51,210

Yellow cards: Koné – Barreiro, Lee, Zentner

Red cards: Itakura (54’)

Referee: Deniz Aytekin

[Translate to English:] Ramy Bensebaini kehrte in die Startelf zurück.
[Translate to English:] Marcus Thuram hatte im ersten Durchgang mehrmals die Führung auf dem Fuß.
[Translate to English:] Schiedsrichter Deniz Aytekin begleitet Ko Itakura nach dessen Rote Karte vom Platz.

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