Borussia take a point home from Freiburg

Matchday 6 in the Bundesliga wrapped up on Sunday afternoon with a 0-0 draw between Borussia Mönchengladbach and hosts SC Freiburg.

Around 33,000 fans at the Europa-Park Stadion saw a fairly open start to the game, but neither side was able to take advantage of their goalscoring opportunities. A hard-fought second 45 had more intensity, but chances were at a premium as the two sides had to settle for a goalless but fair draw.

TEAM NEWS

Daniel Farke made three enforced changes to the side that was beaten by Mainz last weekend: Marvin Friedrich, Julian Weigl and Lars Stindl came in for the suspended Ko Itakura and the injured Nico Elvedi (ankle) and Alassane Plea (groin). Yann Sommer was in goal, Joe Scally, Friedrich, Christoph Kramer and Ramy Bensebaini made up the back-four, Weigl and Manu Koné partnered up in midfield, and attackers Jonas Hofmann, Lars Stindl and Florian Neuhaus supported lone striker Marcus Thuram.

Apart from the trio mentioned above, the head coach was also without Tony Jantschke due to a knock to his ankle. Julian Weigl made his first start for the Foals in Freiburg, while Yvandro Borges Sanches also came off the bench for his Bundesliga debut. In not so good news, Florian Neuhaus was withdrawn in the first half with a knee problem.

FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

2’: The first chance of the game comes after just 100 seconds, but Doan’s low shot slips wide of the target.

5’: Borussia respond. Hofmann wins the ball in the final third and crosses into the middle. Neuhaus meets it on the volley and forces a reaction save from Flekken.

15’: Neuhaus plays Thuram in behind and he bears down on Flekken from an angle, but can’t find a way past the Freiburg goalkeeper.

16’: Kyereh has some space to shoot on the left of the box. Sommer stands his ground and sticks out his right leg to block the ball.

28’: Hofmann has a pop from 20 yards and Flekken parries. He has to react again soon after to push away Thuram’s curling shot.

SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS

58’: Hofmann finds Stindl, who looks for the far corner, but he can’t quite hit the target. The offside flag had gone up against Hoffi in any case.

64’: Stindl tries his luck from distance. Flekken is well placed to parry the ball away with two fists.

68’: The first real threat from the home side this half. Günter takes aim from distance without really troubling Sommer.

76’: A dangerous moment as Jeong finds space to get a shot away inside the area, but Sommer reacts well to save at full stretch.

MATCH FACTS

Freiburg: Flekken – Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart, Günter – Eggestein (69. Keitel), Höfler, Doan (82’ Schade), Kyereh (69’ Jeong), Grifo (82’ Weißhaupt) – Gregoritsch (83’ Petersen)

Borussia: Sommer – Scally, Friedrich, Kramer, Bensebaini – Weigl, Koné – Stindl (82’ Wolf), Neuhaus (34’ Ngoumou / 82’ Borges Sanches), Hofmann – Thuram // Unused subs: Sippel, Lainer, Netz, Herrmann, Fraulo, Reitz

Attendance: 33,000

Yellow cards: Günter – Bensebaini

Referee: Tobias Stieler (Hamburg)

Julian Weigl made his first start for the Foals
Marcus Thuram had a couple of decent chances in the first half
Florian Neuhaus had to come off in the first half with a knee problem

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