Borussia Mönchengladbach’s impressive home series was broken despite Rocco Reitz’s first brace in the Bundesliga. The five-time German champions had to be content with a 2-2 (1-1) draw against Werder Bremen after five competitive game wins in a row at Borussia Park.
After Rafael Borre (7th) fell behind, homegrown Reitz (45th, 49th) turned the game around. But Marvin Ducksch (76th) at least saved a point for the guests. However, Bremen also missed their first away win of the season at the seventh attempt and their first success in Gladbach since October 2010. Both teams remain in the middle of the table after sharing points.
“Of course I would have liked to win,” said Reitz on “DAZN”: “But I think in the end it was fair. Both teams had their chances and can live with that.”
The boycott lasted twelve minutes as a protest against the controversial investor deal in the German Football League (DFL) – when it ended, the guests were already in the lead. Borre used a cross from Romano Schmid in a technically sophisticated manner. Franck Honorat and Joe Scally had lost sight of the striker.
The hosts were impressed by the early deficit in front of 50,660 spectators. Goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas fished the ball off the foot of national player Ducksch in desperate need (12th).
Plea leaves good chances for Gladbach
Coach Ole Werner’s team repeatedly had longer periods of possession and the foals often ran behind. Gladbach’s offensive game was extremely slow to get going. Alassane Plea caused a bit of danger with two shots (27th, 39th). On the other hand, Leonardo Bittencourt missed a Borre cross from a promising position (42′).
The equalizer before the break came out of nowhere. Robin Hack, who was called up to replace the ill Tomas Cvancara, cleverly defended the ball in the Bremen penalty area and laid it off for Reitz – the 21-year-old finished well.
Inspired by this, Gladbach came out of the locker room with a lot of energy. Manu Kone only hit the post, Plea’s follow-up shot was missed by Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer (47′).
But the hosts stayed in control. Reitz cleverly let Olivier Deman run into space and remained ice cold in front of Zetterer. Now Bremen was challenged, Gladbach was waiting for a counterattack. Plea narrowly missed the third goal (59th). A good quarter of an hour later, Ducksch equalized.