Matchday 24 in the Bundesliga saw Borussia Mönchengladbach suffer a 3-0 defeat away at RB Leipzig. Alassane Plea missed a penalty early in the second half, before the hosts took control of the match and secured the three points.
Around 46,687 spectators were at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig and saw the home side enjoy the lion’s share of possession in the opening exchanges. However, Leipzig struggled to create chances against a compact Borussia team. The Foals were patient and looked to take advantage of mistakes in RBL’s build-up play, however, a handful of decent goalscoring opportunities went begging for Daniel Farke’s side in the first half. The second 45 started with a promising situation for Borussia when Jonas Hofmann was tripped in the area, however, Alassane Plea was kept out from the penalty spot by Janis Blaswich. The momentum then swung in Leipzig’s favour, with Timo Werner firing home to open the scoring just seven minutes later. The hosts then had a spot-kick of their own, tucked away by Emil Forsberg, before Josko Gvardiol’s easy finish following a corner killed the game.
TEAM NEWS
Daniel Farke made two changes compared to last week’s goalless draw against Freiburg. Lars Stindl dropped to the bench to make way for Florian Neuhaus’ first start since suffering a knee injury in early September. The other alteration was enforced, as Luca Netz replaced the suspended Ramy Bensebaini at left-back.
Alongside long-term injured players Julian Weigl (partial syndemosis ligament rupture) and Tony Jantschke (meniscus rupture), the Foals continued to be without goalkeepers Jonas Omlin (thigh strain) and Jan Olschowsky (stomach virus).
FIRST-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
6’: First good chance falls Gladbach’s way. Gvardiol loses possession to the press from Hofmann, who looks up and spots the run of Neuhaus in the centre, but the shot goes wide of the target.
10’: Thuram luckily keeps hold of the ball after it ricochets off Orban, but the angle is against him and former Foal Blaswich is able to make the save.
11’: Raum’s corner is only cleared as far as Werner, who forces Sippel into a decent fingertip save.
32’: A huge chance for Borussia. Orban’s loose pass is picked off by Thuram and he drives through the defence. He only has Blaswich to beat, however, his side-footed shot clips the top of the crossbar as it goes over.
45’: Raum’s cross from the left is met by the head of Forsberg, but his effort is never threatening the goal.
SECOND-HALF HIGHLIGHTS
50’: Hofmann crosses from the right perfectly onto the head of Plea, who isn’t far away from picking out the far corner.
51’: Penalty to Gladbach. Neuhaus puts Hofmann in behind and the Germany international is brought down by Raum, although the referee only awards the spot-kick after looking at VAR. Plea steps up from twelve yards, but Blaswich picks the correct side and holds onto the shot.
58’: Goal for Leipzig. Koné loses the ball as Borussia have a chance to break, and Werner is able to drive into the box and fire a powerful shot in under the crossbar. 1-0.
71’: Another for Leipzig. Haidara collects the ball in the box and turns inside, when he is challenged from behind by Plea. A penalty is given and Forsberg sends Sippel the wrong way. 2-0.
77’: A clever drag of the ball allows Koné to trick Haidara and create space to shoot from 20 yards. The ball is headed for the bottom corner until Blaswich gets across and puts a strong hand behind it.
80’: Poulsen cuts inside and shoots from a tight angle, and the ball is well pushed onto the bar by Sippel.
80’: Forsberg’s corner is flicked on at the near post by Poulsen, and Gvardiol is able to bundle the ball over the line from inside the six-yard box. 3-0.
90’: Another fine save from Sippel, this time displaying superb reactions to push a one-on-one chance from Szoboszlai over the top.
MATCH FACTS
Leipzig: Blaswich – Henrichs, Orban, Gvardiol, Raum (76’ Halstenberg) – Haidara (87’ Simakan), Laimer (87’ Kampl) – Szoboszlai, Forsberg (87’ Olmo) – Werner (76’ Poulsen), Silva
Borussia: Sippel – Scally, Itakura, Elvedi, Netz – Kramer, Koné (90+1’ Fraulo) – Hofmann (90+1’ Herrmann), Neuhaus (72’ Wolf), Plea (72’ Stindl) – Thuram (90+1’ Telalovic) // Unused subs: Dimmer, Friedrich, Lainer, Ngoumou
Goals: 1-0 Werner (58’), 2-0 Forsberg (71’, pen.), 3-0 Gvardiol (80’)
Yellow cards: Raum
Referee: Dr. Matthias Jöllenbeck (Freiburg)
Attendance: 46,687 (Red Bull Arena)
