45
21:25
Mid-term conclusion:
No goals, but a lot of excitement: VfL Bochum and Borussia Mönchengladbach go into the dressing room 0-0 in Friday’s game. The hosts started like firefighters and had the first chances. After a quarter of an hour, Gladbach came in better and had a few good approaches, but was only able to record one decent finish from Embolo, which Riemann was able to defuse. At the other end, Bella-Kotchap had the best chance of the first half with a header from a free-kick cross, but was denied by Sommer. In the last 20 minutes, the game became increasingly rough. Referee Benjamin Cortus would have shown more than just three yellow cards for various elbow inserts and hard fouls. Emotions almost boiled over at times and during the break everyone involved can now calm down. See you soon!
45
21:20
That was bad, too, but not on purpose, just bad luck. Antwi-Adjei and Bensebaini rattle their heads together in the running duel and both remain dazed at first.
45
21:18
Not only Benjamin Cortus will be happy when this first half is over. The emotions have rocked incredibly high and every few seconds there is a bang somewhere. There’s an extra two minutes!
45
21:18
Official injury time (minutes): 2
43
21:17
In the duel with Ginter, Polter uses his elbows properly and is lucky that not even a free kick is called. There will be a little later for VfL instead and it will be really dangerous! Stafylidis pulls the ball from the right corner of the penalty area to the far corner with his left. At the second post, Bensebaini clears just before the line in dire need!
41
21:13
Bochum is now really firmly in the Gladbach penalty area. The cross attempts by Herbert Bockhorn and Kostas Stafylidis are too weak and don’t even begin to find teammates.
38
21:10
Summer! A Bochum free-kick from the half-field sails towards the far corner and Gladbach’s keeper has to wait a long time before he sees Bella-Kotchap hitting it with his head. The ball would have hit the crossbar, but Sommer directs the ball to the corner with his fingertips.
36
21:09
That doesn’t exactly calm the mood! Marcus Thuram passes Erhan Mašović in the penalty area, makes minimal contact and theatrically falls to the ground. Gladbach demands a penalty, Bochum yellow for a swallow. Referee Cortus gives neither one nor the other.
34
21:07
After some tricky decisions, emotions are running high, both on the pitch and in the stands.
32
21:04
Yellow card for Armel Bella-Kotchap (VfL Bochum)
Bochum’s second central defender also sees yellow. because he gets Embolo on his feet from behind. Bella-Kotchap is missing after his fifth yellow card in the next game against Hoffenheim.
31
21:04
After half an hour, the game is balanced overall and the draw is okay. Borussia has a little more possession of the ball, but Bochum wins more duels. It continues to get down to business and one free kick follows the other.
29
21:02
Kouadio Koné executes the due free kick and thunders the leather ball into the middle of the wall without much inspiration.
29
21:02
Yellow card for Erhan Masovic (VfL Bochum)
Mašović received a yellow card for his offense.
28
21:01
Thuram can only be slowed down by a foul 35 meters from Mašović’s goal. Good free-kick situation for the guests.
25
20:58
Gladbach is becoming more and more reliable in combination and is now playing into the sixteen with three quick passes on the right. Embolo then wants to cross in front of the goal, but gets stuck on a defender.
23
20:57
Luca Netz brings a corner ball in from the right and then stops at the corner flag. When the ball then comes in his direction again, he is accordingly offside.
21
20:54
Bochum once again throws everything in and, cheered on by the frenetic audience, does not avoid a duel. Since Gladbach is also holding up well, there are a lot of tough duels on the pitch and referee Benjamin Cortus has to calm down a bit every now and then.
18
20:51
Long balls from keeper Riemann to Sebastian Polter are still a popular means at VfL today. Again and again the hosts play the ball back to the goalkeeper, who then starts a long shot.
15
20:48
On the other hand, VfL also has the really big thing! Antwi-Adjei is stable against Luca Netz, pulls into the box from the right and fires from an acute angle at the far post. Tobias Sippel makes a strong save, but the ball lands on Holtmann, who then tries to push it into the short corner from the other side. At the last moment, a Gladbach leg blocked the corner.
13
20:46
First good chance for the guests! After a good combination down the left, Breel Embolo finishes 17 yards in front of the goal. But his low shot is too misplaced and lands right on Manuel Riemann.
11
20:45
In the meantime, the guests have sorted themselves out and can no longer be overwhelmed by VfL. In the 3-4-3, the foals meet the 4-3-3 of the home side.
8th
20:41
Yellow card for Kouadio Koné (Bor. Mönchengladbach)
Hard decision! Koné is a little late in midfield against Rexhbeçaj and sees a yellow card.
6
20:41
Now Mönchengladbach is also in front for the first time. after Thuram’s cross, Lainer narrowly misses in the middle with his long leg.
5
20:37
In this initial phase, VfL is the much more active team and keeps going forward quickly and without frills. Gladbach is not in this game at all.
2
20:34
Bochum comes out of the starting blocks furiously and immediately gets a first corner. A little later, Holtmann’s first shot follows, but he clearly misses the shot from a distance.
1
20:32
After a minute’s silence for the recently deceased DFB honorary president Egidius Braun, the game begins. Bochum starts all in blue, Gladbach plays in white.
20:28
The match will be led by referee Benjamin Cortus and his two assistants, Florian Heft and Christian Gittelmann. The video images are evaluated by Markus Schmidt.
20:12
For Christian Peintinger, on the other hand, it is the second time as a replacement for Hütter. On his debut he managed a 2-0 win against Hertha BSC Berlin with Borussia, in which his team impressed especially before the break. And that’s exactly where the guests want to continue today. “I expect that we will play like we did against Hertha in the first half in Bochum, namely with an aggressive style of play,” demanded Peintinger, who expects an unpleasant opponent for his eleven: “Bochum is incredibly strong on the run, they are very aggressive and go intensively on second balls. That’s what we can expect. We have to be prepared for that,” said the Austrian, who also had a Corona failure with Nico Elvedi today.
20:06
Assistant coach Markus Gellhaus was cool before his first big appearance. “You have to be prepared for almost anything these days. We’ve completed the final training session and we’ll coordinate everything else in the next few hours,” said the 51-year-old before his debut on the sidelines. The fact that Robert Tesche, Milos Pantovic and Christian Gamboa, in addition to Coach Reis, are three players with corona infections is not a big issue for Gellhaus. “We’re missing a few players but we still have quality. I saw a team in training this morning that are keen to make the next step, so I’m not worried.”
19:47
After their disastrous first half of the season, the visitors from the Lower Rhine are now out of the woods, but they are still far from satisfied. The lead over rank 16 is seven points, and the international rankings that were originally targeted have long since ceased to be an issue. This is partly due to the chronic weakness of the foals away from home. Borussia got nine of their 30 points abroad. Most recently, even a 2-0 lead was not enough for the relegation candidates in Stuttgart to take something countable with them.
19:38
In the weeks following their spectacular 4-2 win over Bayern, the hosts have continued to sell well for the most part, but have barely scored any points. The only win from the last five competitive games came against bottom side Fürth (2:1). With a nine-point lead over the relegation zone, Bochum can still look forward to the rest of the season with ease. Should the eighth home win of the season succeed today, one could finally start planning for another year in the upper house.
19:31
The game has a place in the history books even before kick-off. When VfL Bochum and Borussia Mönchengladbach step onto the pitch, two teams will face each other for the first time in the Bundesliga, both of which will have to do without their head coach. Gladbach’s Adi Hütter had already tested positive for Covid-19 the previous week and will be represented again today by Christian Peintinger. Now it has also caught VfL coach Thomas Reis, for whom assistant coach Markus Gellhaus will make the decisions on the sidelines.
Good evening and welcome to the 27th match day of the Bundesliga! VfL Bochum and Borussia Mönchengladbach open the weekend in the German elite class at 8:30 p.m. on Castroper Straße!