Borussia Mönchengladbach missed many chances in the Bundesliga against 1. FSV Mainz 05. The penalty: Mainz inflicted Gladbach’s first defeat of the season on Matchday 5.
On Sunday (September 4th, 2022) the Rheinhessen won 1-0 (0-0) in Borussia-Park. Aaron Martin scored the goal for 1. FSV Mainz 05 with a fantastic free kick (55th). The standard was preceded by the first effective hit for Gladbach: defender Ko Itakura saw red because of an emergency brake (53rd).
Gladbach outnumbered better according to Svensson
Mainz coach Bo Svensson said later on the sports show microphone: “We played boldly. After the 1-0 we slacked off and weren’t good. Gladbach were better with a man down.”
“Ko Itakura made the wrong choice”Borussia coach Daniel Farke summed up “unhappy” Sending off the Japanese. Farke explained: “I would like to let Yann Sommer go one-on-one in top form.”
Brisk Mainzer demand the usual strong summer
“We didn’t have a good start”, Farke also judged. That was true too. The Rheinhessen put Gladbach under pressure early on. Goalkeeper Sommer, who had set a Bundesliga record with 19 saves against Bayern Munich, was challenged.
First, the Swiss Silvan Widmers header had to be fished out of the corner (6th). The following corner was also dangerous, so that Sommer had to attack again (7′).
Gladbach striker Thuram gives top-class players away
It took 20 minutes for coach Farke’s team to set their own accents. And a push led almost directly to success: striker Marcus Thuram missed a big chance after the hosts counterattacked, Robin Zentner parried (24th).
In terms of play, Mainz remained more dominant until the break, but didn’t have as many convincing chances as the hosts. Gladbach drove some counterattacks that could have brought the lead.
Thuram in particular was an asset, but he failed first on the crossbar (31st). And shortly thereafter, the Frenchman ran freely towards Zentner together with Florian Neuhaus, but Thuram’s unselfish cross pass to Neuhaus crashed (36th). Before the break, Zentner was again forced by Thuram to do a splendid job (43′).
Martin punishes Itakura’s emergency brake with a dream free kick
Gladbach went into the second half without the ailing Nico Elvedi, who was replaced by Marvin Friedrich (46′). Alassane Pléa also had to come down due to injury, Lars Stindl (52nd) came in for him.
And shortly thereafter, the BMG captain had to watch as Itakura pulled the emergency brake against Karim Onisiwo. He consequently saw the red card. But it got even worse for Borussia, because Martin sank the free kick that was due in the angle.
Weigl celebrates Bundesliga return
As a result, Gladbach tried to recover from those two impact hits. Mainz controlled the ball outnumbered, Angelo Fulgini missed the chance to decide (79′). Jonas Hofmann almost got the 1:1 for the defiant Gladbacher. However, he missed the ball after a pass from Neuhaus (67th).
Stindl hit the net, but from an offside position (87′). And access Julian Weigl came to his return to the Bundesliga place. He couldn’t do anything anymore, Mainz brought the lead home.
Mainz has to go to Hoffenheim, Borussia to Freiburg
1. FSV Mainz 05 has to play away in Hoffenheim on the upcoming 6th matchday (Saturday, September 10th, 2022 at 3.30 p.m.). Borussia Mönchengladbach concludes the day of the game one day later with a guest appearance at SC Freiburg (5:30 p.m.).