The Foals were held to a 2-2 draw away to VfL Wolfsburg on matchday 10. Marcus Thuram put Borussia ahead twice.
Borussia took their first chance of the game in the 13th minute to go ahead through Marcus Thuram. The home team grew into the game following the opener and equalised on the stroke of half time via Yannick Gerhardt (43’). Daniel Farke’s team responded brilliantly in the second half and Thuram put his side ahead once again (48’). Wolfsburg fought back for a second time though, and Omar Marmoush got the final goal of the game in the 69th minute.
TEAM NEWS
Head coach Daniel Farke was forced into one change from the 5-2 win over 1. FC Köln. The injured Christoph Kramer was replaced by Alassane Plea in the starting XI. The back four in front of Yann Sommer consisted of Joe Scally, Marvin Friedrich, Nico Elvedi and Ramy Bensebaini. Julian Weigl partnered Manu Koné in the centre of midfield, with Jonas Hofmann, Lars Stindl and Alassane Plea playing behind the lone striker Marcus Thuram.
The Foals were without Christoph Kramer (capsular haemorrhage and partially ruptured ankle ligament), Florian Neuhaus (partial PCL rupture), Ko Itakura (partial MCL rupture) and Hannes Wolf (shoulder operation).
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
9’: The first good chance of the game. Svanberg’s cross from the byline finds Gerhardt in the middle. He volleys over the bar.
13’: Goal for Borussia! The Foals take their first chance of the game to go ahead. Plea plays it to Thuram on the left, who cuts inside with pace, dribbles past Lacroix and then fires the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 to Gladbach.
14’: Nmecha almost equalises immediately. His shot goes just past the Borussia goal.
37’: A huge opportunity for Wolfsburg. Wimmer’s ball across the box eventually finds Kaminski, however he can only hit the outside of the post.
39’: Arnold tries his luck from around 25 yards out. Sommer is on hand to keep it out.
43’: Goal for Wolfsburg. Otavio has too much room out wide and can cross. He picks out Gerhardt and he volleys it past Sommer from close range. 1-1.
SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS:
48’: Goal for Borussia! What a start to the second half. Hofmann’s corner is headed towards goal by Thuram, it hits Otavio and bounces back to the Frenchman. He then strikes the rebound past Casteels into the corner. 2-1 to Gladbach.
55’: Plea crosses for Thuram, but he can’t get enough on his header and it’s an easy save for Casteels.
56’: Wimmer misses the target by just a few inches with a low drive.
64’: An attempted clearance by Bensebaini ricochets through to Marmoush and he’s suddenly in behind. He drags his shot well wide, though.
69’: Goal for Wolfsburg. Marmoush brings down Otavio’s cross with his chest, turns and brilliantly hits it into the bottom corner. 2-2.
83’: Bensebaini looks for the bottom corner from a free-kick, Casteels parries well.
87’: The Wolves come extremely close to taking the lead. Sommer makes an excellent fingertip save to keep out Parades, whose shot was destined for the bottom corner.
88’: Borussia are lucky to not concede. Marmoush’s header flicks the bar on its way over.
STATISTICS
Wolfsburg: Casteels - Baku, Lacroix (89’ Guilavogui), van de Ven, Paulo Otavio - Arnold, Svanberg (59’ F. Nmecha), Gerhardt, Wimmer (74’ Paredes), Kaminski (89’ Wind) – L. Nmecha (59’ Marmoush) // Unused substitutes: Pervan, Bornauw, Fischer, Waldschmidt
Borussia: Sommer – Scally, Friedrich, Elvedi, Bensebaini – Weigl, Koné – Hofmann, Stindl (89’ Herrmann), Plea (77’ Ngoumou) – Thuram // Unused substitutes: Sippel, Jantschke, Lainer, Netz, Reitz, Borges Sanches, Noß
Goals: 0-1 Thuram (13’), 1-1 Gerhardt (43’), 1-2 Thuram (48’), 2-2 Marmoush (69’)
Attendance: 26,701
Yellow cards: Wimmer, Otavio, Arnold – Weigl, Stindl, Koné
Referee: Benjamin Cortus
