Wolfsburg dominated at the beginning, but quickly lost their line on the 27th matchday of the Bundesliga in Mönchengladbach. And finally the game. Gladbach won 2-0 (1-0) and climbed into midfield in the table. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg is moving further and further away from the European Cup places.
Borussia coach Daniel Farke surprised even before kick-off: he ordered national player Jonas Hofmann to the substitutes’ bench, and Alassane Plea was allowed to play for him from the start.
But Wolfsburg set the first accents. The guests bothered Borussia during the build-up with consistent pressing – the hosts didn’t like that at all. Borussia seemed insecure and could not free themselves. And had to get the ball out of his own net after ten minutes.
Marmoush scores – VAR objects
Luckily for Borussia, Wolfsburg’s goal didn’t count. Felix Nmecha had put the ball through to Omar Marmoush from the center and the attacker hit the Borussia net halfway from 14 meters. Referee Timo Gerach pointed to the middle. But the VAR intervened: the goalscorer had been offside by the tiniest margin.
This scene didn’t wake up the hosts – it seemed to unsettle them further. Only Wolfsburg played. A big chance for Kilian Fischer in the 25th minute: the free-standing full-back shot from 14 meters out, but only hit Ramy Bensebaini, who threw himself in the shot.
Wolfsburg storms, Gladbach hits
And then it happened, as so often happens – the goal fell on the other side: Nathan N’Goumou was released by Marcus Thuram after Wolfsburg keeper Koen Casteels had failed a tee shot to some extent. The Frenchman from Gladbach turned inwards and shot into the left corner – it was 1-0 for Borussia.
The wolves were shocked and clearly had problems getting back on track until half-time. Coach Niko Kovac probably had to calm his people down at half-time, which the Croatian initially managed to do.
Svanberg fails at Gladbach’s keeper Omlin
His team came out of the dressing room with fresh body language and had a great chance to equalize in the 49th minute. After a fine solo, Jakub Kaminski put the ball half-right to Mattias Svanberg, who failed from a very acute angle at Gladbach keeper Jonas Omlin.
Surprisingly, the action was only a small flash in the pan – somehow the wolves had lost their momentum. And the ideas. Gladbach had little trouble keeping the opponent under control. The hosts took control again.
French goal to 2-0
The 2-0 was a real French production from Mönchengladbach: N’Goumou had crossed from the right, Plea put his head down in the center and the rushing Thuram pushed the ball over the line from close range to make it 2-0 ( 63.).
That was the preliminary decision, Kovac, who was pacing around in a bad mood on the sidelines, saw his team continue to play without a living. Without real pressure forward. Without brilliant ideas. The spectators didn’t get to see much anymore.
Moenchengladbach visiting Frankfurt
On the next matchday, Borussia Mönchengladbach has to travel to Frankfurt for the top game against SGE (Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.). Wolfsburg receives Bayer Leverkusen a day later (7.30 p.m.).