Just a few weeks ago, Borussia Mönchengladbach was threatening to slide into a crisis. But the foals put together an impressive series of successes. After the win against newly promoted FC St. Pauli they are in sixth place.
Borussia Mönchengladbach continues to make progress in the Bundesliga after their fourth home win in a row. With the 2-0 (2-0) win against promoted team FC St. Pauli at the end of the eleventh matchday, coach Gerardo Seoane’s team jumped to sixth place in the table with 17 points.
“Last year we might have lost games like this. But of course our results in the last few weeks have given us confidence. We managed to turn Borussia Park into a fortress and that feels very good,” said Julian Weigl after the success.
Goals from Alassane Plea (13th minute) and national striker Tim Kleindienst (44th) ensured the deserved victory. The last time Gladbachers had four home wins in a row was almost five years ago. The hopeless Hamburg team, on the other hand, remained without a goal away from home for the first time this season and are still in 16th place in the relegation relegation zone with eight points.
Borussia has now been undefeated for five games, but lost Joe Scally early on, who had to leave the field after 20 minutes. The American was injured in the second minute of his 100th Bundesliga game in a header duel with Philipp Treu. At almost 22 years old, Scally is the fourth youngest player in Borussia’s history to reach the 100 game mark. Only Marc-André ter Stegen, Lothar Matthäus and Berti Vogts were previously younger.
In the first competitive duel between the two clubs in a good nine years, the Gladbach team wore a mint-colored special jersey with the words “Untamable for children’s rights.” The background was the International Day of Children’s Rights last Wednesday.
“We are disappointed that we didn’t get any points because we played a very good game in the second half. But we invited the opponent to score goals twice. And then we run after this deficit,” said St. Pauli defender Hauke Wahl.
The Hamburg team will face 17th place in the table on Friday in a duel between the two promoted teams. Holstein Kiel – an extremely important game. “It’s only about three points, but we are of course aware of the importance,” said coach Alexander Blessin, who was not completely dissatisfied: “We did a lot of things well in the second half.”
Kleindienst celebrates late
Borussia’s self-confidence in the current run was evident from the start. However, with little resistance, the team from Lower Rhine was superior and took the lead early on after a corner from Franck Honorat. Marvin Friedrich made a strong header to the free-standing Plea, who slotted in thoughtfully.
The Frenchman didn’t stay so cool almost ten minutes later when he was free and, running alone towards St. Pauli keeper Nikola Vasilj, passed the ball a little too far during an intermediate step and lost his stride. David Nemeth saved from the line.
Kleindienst gave the team a deserved two-goal lead before the break, lofting a nice pass from Robin Hack over Vasilj into the net. The goal also stood up to the video referee’s review, so Kleindienst was able to celebrate his seventh goal of the season with his first shot on goal. Together with Jonathan Burkardt from Mainz, he is the most successful German goalscorer in the Bundesliga.
He scored his first two international goals for Germany against Vasilj in the Hamburg goal on November 16th in a 7-0 home win against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
After the break, the guests tried to put Gladbach under pressure again with aggressive pressing. St. Pauli got more possession of the ball, but no real chances to score. Gladbach defended confidently, but Hamburg was unable to put any decisive pressure on Borussia. Gladbach, who now counterattacked, remained a goal threat.
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