The Foals celebrated a 2-1 victory against 1. FC Heidenheim on the ninth Bundesliga matchday.
In front of around 51,500 spectators at BORUSSIA-PARK, the Foals took their first chance of the game to go ahead through Alassane Plea in the fourth minute. They continued to dominate after this, but let several big chances go begging. That came back to bite them in the 38th minute, when Eren Dinkci equalised with the visitors first dangerous effort of the game. The Foals came out firing for the second half and went ahead again in the 52nd minute after an own goal from Jonas Föhrenbach. Borussia continued to largely dominate the rest of the match and comfortably held onto their narrow lead.
TEAM NEWS
Borussia head coach Gerardo Seoane named the same starting eleven as in their first win of the season (3-1 at VfL Bochum). Joe Scally, Nico Elvedi, Max Wöber and Luca Netz made up the back four in front of goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas. Julian Weigl and Rocco Reitz started in central midfield. Franck Honorat (right) and Nathan Ngoumou (left) occupied the wings, while Alassane Plea and Jordan featured in attack.
In addition to the suspended Koné, Itakura (ankle operation), Friedrich (hip), Jantschke (muscle problems), Wolf (meniscus tear), Borges Sanches (thigh) and Omlin (recovering from a shoulder operation) all missed out due to injury.
FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS
4’: Early lead for Borussia! The ball falls to Plea from Netz’s corner, and he beats Traoré before toe-poking towards goal. Theuerkauf clears on the line, but it’s too late as the whole of the ball has already crossed.
16’: Ngoumou produces a burst of pace on the right wing and dribbles past Traoré on the edge of the penalty area but his effort from a tight angle rolls a long way wide of the far corner.
30’: So nearly 2-0! Weigl chips the ball into the penalty area from the centre. Ngoumou heads the ball onto Jordan, whose header is cleared off the line by Föhrenbach.
38’: An equaliser from nothing! After a Foals corner, the visitors launch a quick counterattack. Kleindienst is tackled at the crucial moment, but Weigl’s clearance falls perfectly for Dinkci, who finds the net from about 20 yards to make it 1-1.
SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS
52’: Borussia go ahead once more. Honorat plays a corner to Plea, who gets something on the ball. In the end though, it’s the head of Föhrenbach which directs it into the net for 2-1.
70’: Superb save from Nicolas as Borussia’s keeper claws Kleindienst’s header out of the top-left corner.
85’: A Foals counter ends without reward. Hack feeds Herrmann, but he fires wide from a tight angle.
90’: This time it’s the other way round: Herrmann sets Hack on his way. The substitute tries a chip but it’s just over.
STATISTICS
Borussia: Nicolas – Scally, Elvedi, Wöber, Netz – Weigl, Reitz (Chiarodia (86’), Honorat (Herrmann 74’), Ngoumou (Hack 74’) – Plea (Kramer 76’), Jordan (Čvančara 86’) // Unused substitutes: Olschowsky, Ullrich, Neuhaus, Ranos
Heidenheim: Müller – Traoré (Busch 46’), Mainka, Siersleben, Föhrenbach – Maloney (Schimmer 85’), Theuerkauf (Thomalla 70’), Dinkci, Beck (Pick 46’), Beste (Pieringer 70’) – Kleindienst
Goals: 1-0 Plea (4’), 1-1 Dinkci (38’), 2-1 Föhrenbach (52’ (own goal))
Yellow cards: Dinkci, Pick, Pieringer
Attendance: 51,541
Referee: Robert Hartmann
