Borussia Mönchengladbach can still win at home: The bottom team in the Bundesliga defeated Karlsruher SC 3-1 (1-0) in the second round of the DFB Cup and ended a long negative streak. Shuto Machino (3rd minute) took the early lead, Nico Elvedi (52nd) and Haris Tabakovic (90th) decided the game, which was briefly in jeopardy after Fabian Schleusener’s goal (59th).
“We didn’t take it as pressure today, but as an opportunity. The boys did very well at the beginning and that gave the team a lot of self-confidence.”said Gladbach coach Eugen Polanski in the Sportschau interview. “We still have room for improvement, but I’ll take the win that way. It’s always easy to be a team when things are going well. It’s precisely in phases like the one we’re in that a team emerges – we’re making good strides.”
The Gladbach fans had to wait for this moment for seven months. The last time their team celebrated a sense of success at Borussia Park was on March 29th, a 1-0 win against RB Leipzig. The Gladbachers have had seven home games since then, but the result of three draws and four defeats was worthy of relegation. This is one of the reasons why Borussia are currently in last place in the Bundesliga.
Machino makes Borussia Park happy early on
Gladbach has been without a win there for 14 games across the season, but the change of the cup obviously came in handy for the team. Already in the third minute, Yannik Engelhardt showed the esprit that had been missing so often recently. He won the ball deep in the KSC half and played to Tabakovic, whose cross Machino converted from close range from a completely free position.
And Gladbach continued to work with great self-confidence to extend this lead. Tabakovic almost took advantage of an assist from Karlsruhe defender Marcel Beifus – after the striker also went around goalkeeper Hans Christian Bernat, the guests were able to clear at the last moment (5th). Shortly afterwards, Machino shot just wide from 25 meters (14th).
KSC is getting better, but forgives them One hundred percent to compensate
Then the KSC also found their way into the game, Marvin Wanitzek tested the daily form of Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas, who was there (29th), with a shot from 20 meters. The 28-year-old was beaten after the following corner, but there was a handball before David Herold’s goal, which is why referee Bastian Dankert blew the whistle early.
Machino then missed another chance to score a brace (37th) – and then almost gave Karlsruhe the equalizer. Completely unnecessarily, he played the ball from midfield way too short back towards Nicolas, whereupon Lilian Egloff ran towards the Gladbach goalkeeper with a lot of time, but apparently had too much time – Nicolas defended with his foot (41′). Shortly before the half-time whistle, Bernat made a strong save against Tabakovic on the other side (45′).
Sara Schwedmann, sports show DFB Cup, sports show, October 28th, 2025 10:57 p.m
Bernat in the center – and with Elvedi’s goal no chance
Shortly after half-time, the KSC keeper looked twice as bad, but was lucky. First Bernat played a pass out of bounds, after the following long throw from Machino he wandered through the penalty area, but Tabakovic could only head the ball into the side netting (47′).
After 50 minutes, he showed that Bernat is one of the best goalkeepers in the second division. First he parried a shot from Engelhardt, then he reacted quickly to Machino’s follow-up shot. But then the following corner landed right on the head of Elvedi, whose goal to make it 2-0 caused a relieving storm of celebration in the stadium (52nd).
KSC comes back into the game, Gladbach misses the best chances
But coach Eugen Polanski’s team simply lacks the class this season to handle such a lead confidently and so the big tremors began. After a cross from Wanitzek, Rafael Pinto Pedrosa had a free shot from close range, Nicolas made the save, but Schleusener scored the goal (59′).
Shortly afterwards, Franck Honorat had the opportunity to restore the two-goal lead, but KSC defender Nicolai Rapp prevented that with a great save on the line (61′). Tabakovic also missed the 100 percent chance of making the preliminary decision when he shot a cross from Honorat past the goal (70th).
Tabakovic throws a bunch of balls – and still scores
These weren’t the only situations in which Gladbach missed out on making their lives much easier in this game. The Polanski team dominated, but the score remained close – also because Bernat won the next one-on-one duel with Tabakovic in the 78th minute. The striker had his worst miss shortly before the end, when he clearly missed the goal again while standing alone.
Seconds later, Tabakovic was given the opportunity again – and this time he finally took advantage of it. Honorat sent the Swiss, who again had a lot of time and this time sent Bernat off (90′). Now the game was decided, Borussia Park celebrated – for the first time in seven months. This sense of success should now also usher in a turnaround in the Bundesliga, which continues on Saturday at FC St. Pauli (3:30 p.m.).