From the arduous success four days ago in the Bundesliga, Borussia Mönchengladbach clearly learned better lessons than FC Heidenheim in the second round of the DFB Cup on Tuesday evening (October 31, 2023). At 3:1 (3:0), the duel was decided very early on.
When the Sportschau asked both coaches last Saturday after Gladbach’s 2-1 win in the Bundesliga against the same opponent how they would approach the immediate reunion, VfL coach Gerardo Seoane replied: “That is indeed very special. Of course, the mental cinema immediately starts: what will my colleague change and how can we react to it?” Frank Schmidt also stated, “to go into analysis immediately” and above all to want to improve behavior when dealing with opposing set pieces.
Schmidt changes to five positions
The first results of the two-sided analysis were visible an hour before kick-off. Seoane switched to two positions, replacing Alassane Plea and Franck Honorat in the offensive with Robin Hack and Manu Koné, who was banned from the Bundesliga. Schmidt even made five substitutions: substitute keeper Vitus Eicher was given his chance in goal instead of Kevin Müller, and Denis Thomalla, Florian Pick, Marvin Pieringer and Kevin Sessa were able to prove themselves again. From Heidenheimer’s point of view, all of this initially backfired.
Dealing with Heidenheim’s corner problem – both of the goals conceded in the Bundesliga game had come in this way – proved to be a failure in the 3rd minute: Hack’s cross landed at Jordan Siebatcheu, who, with the help of FCH attacker Pieringer, pushed the ball past Eicher to make it 1: 0 put into the goal.
Ngoumou way too fast for Föhrenbach
Jordan, on loan from Union Berlin, was also the big problem for the Heidenheim defense afterwards. When Nathan Ngoumou sent Jonas Föhrenbach into nirvana on the right wing in the 9th minute, the American sneaked away in the center of the attack and pushed the low cross over the line to make it 2-0.
Less than five minutes later, the VfL striker almost completed his hat trick, but Jordan put his header just over the crossbar from a central position after another Ngoumou assist.
Hack hits with his head
After that, Borussia made things a little more comfortable and let Heidenheim come, but Moritz Nicolas’ goal was not in serious danger. On the contrary – in the few counter-attacks, Ngoumou in particular repeatedly caused danger against the completely overwhelmed Föhrenbach. In the 44th minute, FCH was on fire on the left: Luca Netz prevailed on the wing, and Hack headed his cross over Eicher for a 3-0 lead.
Schmidt’s reaction at half-time documented how angry Schmidt was about the performance of his protégés: four players were new to the game, including top scorer and promotion hero Tim Kleindienst, who was already off work after 45 minutes.
More stable, but largely without the risk of scoring
These changes were definitely noticeable. Heidenheim seemed much more stable in the second half, but continued to pose no threat to score. Gladbach switched to control mode, but had the chance to make it 4-0 through Koné in the 65th minute – his shot from twelve meters flew just wide of the goal.
When Seoane was probably already thinking about the following games a quarter of an hour before the end and was already making his fifth substitution, a little carelessness set in: After a short corner, Adrian Beck sneaked behind the VfL defense at the far corner and headed in unchallenged to make it 1:3 (78.).
Afterwards, Gladbach was immediately more secure again, and there was no real rebellion from FCH – ultimately the Gladbach team rocked their victory over the finish line very confidently.
Heidenheim now against Stuttgart
For the Foals, the Bundesliga continues on Saturday (November 4th, 2023) at 3:30 p.m. against SC Freiburg, Heidenheim faces VfB Stuttgart the next day at 5:30 p.m.