Borussia Mönchengladbach won against Borussia Dortmund and secured early relegation.
Gladbach deservedly won 1-0 (0-0) against BVB on Sunday evening and can no longer slip into one of the last three places on the last two match days. For eleventh-placed Gladbach it was the first win after five games without a “threesome”.
BVB could have secured the runner-up title early with a win. Dortmund is five points ahead of third-place RB Leipzig and has a significantly better goal difference. “The defeat really annoys me – because we didn’t show what we need to show in a Bundesliga game,” said BVB coach Niko Kovač at the Sportschau microphone. “Gladbach showed us today how intensely you have to play football in order to get points in the Bundesliga.”
Tabakovic redeems Gladbach
In the first half, Dortmund had almost nothing going on offense and Gladbach deserved to take the lead, but the hosts were unable to capitalize on their few clear chances. After the half-time break, Dortmund showed a slight improvement, but Gladbach remained the dominant team for long stretches. Haris Tabakovic (88th) finally scored the redeeming “goal of the day”.
After the 0-0 draw at VfL Wolfsburg, Gladbach’s coach Eugen Polanski had to change his starting eleven in one position: 17-year-old Wael Mohya replaced Jens Castrop (red card suspended). BVB coach Kovač brought in 18-year-old Luca Reggiani in the back three after the 4-0 win against SC Freiburg for Ramy Bensebaïni, who had a foot injury.
Gladbach is looking for the gap
Because the BVB team bus was stuck in a traffic jam, the game started ten minutes later in Borussia Park in front of 54,042 spectators. The home team had the first good scene. Joe Scally broke through on the left and passed to Tabakovic (7th minute) in the penalty area, where Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck prevented Gladbach’s attacker from finishing.
After the balanced initial phase, the game remained disjointed and played out in midfield most of the time. The first shot belonged to Gladbach: Scally (19th) tested BVB keeper Gregor Kobel with a shot from the half-left position of the penalty area. In the 25th minute, Nico Elvedi volleyed the ball into the BVB goal after a Stöger free kick, but the Swiss was a step offside.
Kobel prevents BVB from falling behind
Gladbach was now taking control of the game, and there was hardly any sign of Dortmund’s previously unimaginative team on the offensive. With a cross from Philipp Sander from the left side, Elvedi (25th) beat Dortmund’s Julian Ryerson at the second post and headed just wide of the goal.
Shortly afterwards, Rocco Reitz broke through on the right side and played the ball sharply to the edge of BVB’s five-yard box, where Tabakovic (32nd) kept his foot in and was denied by Kobel, who reacted brilliantly. Gladbach stayed on the accelerator, Yannik Engelhardt (42nd) headed a corner to the second post and into the side netting. Dortmund continued to offer a disappointing performance and only fired their first shot on goal in stoppage time in the first half: Samuele Inácio’s (45th + 2) attempt from eleven meters did not cause any problems for Gladbach’s goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas.
Dortmund is slightly improved
At the start of the second half, Gladbach missed their next top-class chance. During an attack on the right side, Honorat passed powerfully in front of the Dortmund goal, where Tabakovic (48th) tipped the ball just past the left post with the tip of his foot. Julian Brandt (52nd) sent an offensive sign of life for BVB with a shot, but his shot clearly missed Nicolas’ goal.
Gladbach remained the dominant team in the game, but initially no longer had any compelling chances against slightly improved guests. From the 60th minute onwards, BVB also looked for a way forward more often and got shots: a long-range shot from Ryerson (68th) from 18 meters flew just over the crossbar, after a counterattack Inacio (72nd) shot over the goal, Marcel Sabitzer’s (76th) free kick sailed past the goal on the left. Dortmund had the best chance after a counterattack by Fábio Silva (79th), who shot over from eleven meters after a lay-down by Salih Özcan.
Tabakovic makes Gladbach cheer
Engelhardt (81′) started the final phase with a powerful long-range shot that went past the right angle. Gladbach almost negligently missed their next chance when Reitz (85th) came free to finish at the penalty spot after a pass from Honorat, but put the ball past the goal to the left.
Gladbach continued to press – and was ultimately rewarded for their commitment. After a pass from Reitz, Tabakovic (88th) was through, ran towards Kobel and pushed the ball into the bottom right corner. Initially the referee disallowed the goal because of an alleged offside position, but after the video referee checked the goal counted. “It definitely feels good, but it wasn’t just me,” Tabakovic said. “It was a very good team performance, from the first minute.”
Gladbach now in Augsburg
On the next match day, Gladbach will play at FC Augsburg (05/09/3:30 p.m.) before the season finale against TSG Hoffenheim (05/16/3:30 p.m.). Dortmund first welcomes Eintracht Frankfurt (08.05./8:30 p.m.), on the last matchday BVB travels to Werder Bremen (16.05./3:30 p.m.).
Our sources:
- Game between Gladbach and Dortmund on May 3rd, 2026
Broadcast: WDR.de, “Gladbach wins in the Borussia duel – the audio highlights”, May 3, 2026, 8:12 p.m
