Borussia Mönchengladbach secured some more vital points on matchday 23 of the Bundesliga. They continued their strong form in 2017 with a 4-2 win over Schalke and moved closer to the European places.
Fabian Johnson scored two goals and proved to be the match winner for Dieter Hecking’s team in the first of the ‘Schalke trilogy’. Oscar Wendt and Raffael made it five league wins in seven this calendar year for Gladbach. Nabil Bentaleb had equalised for the Royal Blues from the penalty spot and Leon Goretzka struck late on. Schalke have now gone five games without victory. On Thursday (21:05 CET), the two sides meet again, this time in the Europa League in Gelsenkirchen. The return leg in Gladbach will be played on 16th March.
Borussia begin strongly
In front of 54,014 fans in a sold-out Borussia-Park, the home side started well. Raffael had the first chance of the game after just 30 seconds. Four days after their DFB Pokal defeat to Bayern Munich, Schalke looked nervy in the opening stages of this match. It wasn’t until head coach Matija Nastasic switched Holger Badstuber and Matija Nastasic in the back three that the guests began to look more assured. Badstuber switched to the middle and Nastasic to the left.
Schalke suddenly had more control of the game, but still didn’t offer much going forward. Gladbach sat back waited to counter when they won the ball back. Quick transitional play resulted in them taking the lead. Johnson latched onto a precise cross from Patrick Herrmann and Schalke captain Benedikt Höwedes and Nastasic had lost sight of the goalscorer. Hermann had the ball in the back of the net himself shortly after, but it was correctly disallowed for offside.
Borussia score three after the break
The visitors got the chance to equalise when World Cup winner Christoph Kramer fouled Thilo Kehrer inside the Gladbach penalty area. Bentaleb stepped up and made no mistake. Gladbach didn’t take long to bounce back. Raffael and Johnson both missed chances before the break.
The tempo of the match picked up after the interval as both teams went in search of the lead. Guido Burgstaller almost converted a Kehrer cross in the 47th minute. At the other end, Ralf Fährmann parried a shot from the in-form Gladbach striker Lars Stindl. The game became more intense, despite the recent excursions of both teams in various competitions. Every blade of grass was being covered and Stindl had another shot saved by Fährmann in the 62nd minute. Gladbach started to pile on the pressure and Johnson finished off a good piece of combination play with Stindl to put Gladback into the lead. Wendt and Raffael extended the lead and Goretzka scored a consolation for Schalke at the end. The match finished 4-2 to the home side.
Borussia Mönchengladbach secured some more vital points on matchday 23 of the Bundesliga. They continued their strong form in 2017 with a 4-2 win over Schalke and moved closer to the European places.
Fabian Johnson scored two goals and proved to be the match winner for Dieter Hecking’s team in the first of the ‘Schalke trilogy’. Oscar Wendt and Raffael made it five league wins in seven this calendar year for Gladbach. Nabil Bentaleb had equalised for the Royal Blues from the penalty spot and Leon Goretzka struck late on. Schalke have now gone five games without victory. On Thursday (21:05 CET), the two sides meet again, this time in the Europa League in Gelsenkirchen. The return leg in Gladbach will be played on 16th March.
Borussia begin strongly
In front of 54,014 fans in a sold-out Borussia-Park, the home side started well. Raffael had the first chance of the game after just 30 seconds. Four days after their DFB Pokal defeat to Bayern Munich, Schalke looked nervy in the opening stages of this match. It wasn’t until head coach Matija Nastasic switched Holger Badstuber and Matija Nastasic in the back three that the guests began to look more assured. Badstuber switched to the middle and Nastasic to the left.
Schalke suddenly had more control of the game, but still didn’t offer much going forward. Gladbach sat back waited to counter when they won the ball back. Quick transitional play resulted in them taking the lead. Johnson latched onto a precise cross from Patrick Herrmann and Schalke captain Benedikt Höwedes and Nastasic had lost sight of the goalscorer. Hermann had the ball in the back of the net himself shortly after, but it was correctly disallowed for offside.
Borussia score three after the break
The visitors got the chance to equalise when World Cup winner Christoph Kramer fouled Thilo Kehrer inside the Gladbach penalty area. Bentaleb stepped up and made no mistake. Gladbach didn’t take long to bounce back. Raffael and Johnson both missed chances before the break.
The tempo of the match picked up after the interval as both teams went in search of the lead. Guido Burgstaller almost converted a Kehrer cross in the 47th minute. At the other end, Ralf Fährmann parried a shot from the in-form Gladbach striker Lars Stindl. The game became more intense, despite the recent excursions of both teams in various competitions. Every blade of grass was being covered and Stindl had another shot saved by Fährmann in the 62nd minute. Gladbach started to pile on the pressure and Johnson finished off a good piece of combination play with Stindl to put Gladback into the lead. Wendt and Raffael extended the lead and Goretzka scored a consolation for Schalke at the end. The match finished 4-2 to the home side.
