Offensively harmless, defensively vulnerable: Borussia Mönchengladbach is still looking for constancy in the Bundesliga. The last team of coach Adi Hütter that played so furiously had to be content with a 1: 1 (1: 0) after a poor performance at the strong FSV Mainz 05 and missed the jump to a European Cup place.
The Gladbach team disappointed, especially in the first round, but led for a long time through the goal of national player Florian Neuhaus (38th). Silvan Widmer (76.) achieved the well-deserved compensation for Bo Svensson’s team, who again made a good impression and gradually settled in the top third of the table.
“We take the lead, then we stop playing football a bit. Mainz deserved to equalize. We had planned more,” said Neuhaus DAZN, who also spoke about his own sobering situation with the foals: “It’s not that easy for me. I have built up a lot over three years, I think. I have now noticed for myself how fast it can go in professional football. I should have Maybe I wanted a bit more support from the club, that’s probably a bit of wishful thinking in professional football. “
After the glittering cup night against Bayern (5: 0) and the league success against Bochum (2: 1), the Gladbachers came with a good dose of self-confidence. Hütter only made one change in the starting XI and sent Luca Netz onto the field for Lars Stindl, Denis Zakaria also reported fit after gastrointestinal problems.
At first, there was almost no sign of the swing of the past week at Hütters Elf. After arriving late due to the heavy traffic around the arena, the Gladbachers let themselves be taken by surprise by the home team and had big problems with the passionate performance of the FSV in front of 25,000 spectators. In addition, Hütter had to replace injured Nico Elvedi and Breel Embolo in the middle of the first half.
Mainz with the best chances of further goals
Mainz always came forward dangerously – mostly driven by the strong Jonathan Burkardt, who should have long been the focus of the national team. The U21 European champion headed the ball just wide twice (10th / 23rd), bringing Karim Onisiwo (15th) into a promising position.
Almost out of nowhere, the guests took the lead. Neuhaus pushed in after a mistake by Robin Zentner, who ricocheted off a solid shot from Ramy Bensebaini. Only then did Gladbach improve and came up with further opportunities through Bensebaini (42nd) and Marcus Thuram (45th + 4).
After the break, however, Hütter’s team started just as weak as in the first round. Mainz, on the other hand, pushed forward: Jae-Sung Lee (46th / 64th), Onisiwo (47th) and Burkardt (51th / 65th) had the best chances of equalizing after the restart, but Gladbach’s keeper Yann Sommer parried several times brilliantly.
Borussia did not manage to calm the game down. There were hardly any counter-opportunities, also because Mainz was able to keep the pressure up for a long time despite the high speed and the exhausting style of play.
1. FSV Mainz 05 – Gladbach: The lineups
Mainz: Zentner – Alexander Hack, Bell, Niakhate – Widmer, Kohr (88th Barreiro), Martin – Lee (70th Stach), Boetius – Onisiwo (88th Ingvartsen), Burkardt (81st Szalai).
Bo Svensson (Trainer Mainz): “Overall, I’m satisfied. We started well and dominated. When we conceded we were disorganized and undisciplined. But over the entire 90 minutes we deserved to win the game.”
Adi Hütter (Trainer Mönchengladbach): “The first half was okay. In the end we have to be absolutely satisfied with the point. Mainz plays football with passion and power, they showed that today.”
