Bundesliga

Borussia Mönchengladbach – VfL Bochum 2: 0: Situation for Bochum comes to a head

Published

1 month ago

May 6, 2023

The situation is getting worse and worse for VfL Bochum. Coach Thomas Letsch’s team lost 2-0 (1-0) at Borussia Mönchengladbach and will start the final three games from a direct relegation zone.

Disappointed and exhausted, the VfL Bochum players dragged themselves to their fans and thanked them for their support. The attachment provided consolation after the 0: 2 (0: 1) at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The solidarity was also urgently needed: After the sixth game without a win in a row, the team of coach Thomas Letsch starts the final three games from a direct relegation zone.

VfL captain Anthony Losilla brought tears to his eyes after the final whistle after the Westphalians’ increasing relegation problems. “We should fight and give everything, but that wasn’t enough in the first half. We can’t show that face. Everyone else is giving everything, but we’re just missing something, we have to do better in the next three games. But we can’t pick it up,” said the midfielder with a breaking voice sky-Microphone.

National player Jonas Hofmann (35th) and “Joker” Lars Stindl (90th + 1) scored the Mönchengladbach goals. The five-time German champion eliminated the last doubts about staying up in the league with only the second success in the past ten matches.

Hofmann saw the reparation for the 1: 2 a week ago at VfB Stuttgart as successful: “We showed that we still want to give everything and fight and run.”

Gladbach – Bochum: VfL simply too harmless overall

In view of the recent disappointing performance, coach Daniel Farke had to listen to a few whistles from the Gladbach fans before kick-off. In front of 53,797 spectators, his side were unimpressed in the first half without shining.

Florian Neuhaus failed with the hosts’ first shot by Manuel Riemann (19′), two minutes later Hofmann hesitated too long in front of the VfL goalkeeper. Danilo Soares, who had previously carelessly lost the ball to Hofmann, ironed out his mistake.

Gladbach remained more dangerous after that. Manu Kone narrowly missed (27′), then Hofmann provided the deserved lead with a direct acceptance of preparatory work by Ramy Bensebaini. Nathan Ngoumou hit the crossbar four minutes later.

Bochum offered a committed performance and braced themselves against the threat of relegation, but overall the offensive actions in the first round were too harmless.

In addition, Letsch had to change his team just before kick-off. Keven Schlotterbeck replaced Patrick Osterhage (muscular problems) in the starting XI. Kevin Stöger, Moritz Broschinski (both ill) and Gerrit Holtmann (knee problems) had canceled before the trip to Mönchengladbach.

Letsch reacted to the poor performances of his full-backs Christian Gamboa and Soares and brought in fresh strength in the second half with Konstantinos Stafylidis and Saidy Janko. Bochum now intensified the offensive efforts. Philipp Hofmann had a great chance to equalize, but the striker’s header hit the bar (59′). Bochum’s last hopes of a point were dashed by Stindl eleven minutes after coming on.

Borussia Mönchengladbach – VfL Bochum: The voices

Daniel Farke (Borussia Monchengladbach coach): “The win is good for us. We invested a lot more in possession than in the last few games. That was the key against a good Bochum team. We missed a lot of chances. We had a good balance.”

Thomas Letsch (coach VfL Bochum): “I’m annoyed about the 25th to 45th minute. We built up the opposition through our own mistakes. That put the mood in the stadium and the opposition became more confident. In this phase we gave up the game. The bottom line is that it’s not enough.”

Borussia Mönchengladbach – VfL Bochum: The line-ups

Moenchengladbach: Omlin – Lainer (90+4 Scally), Friedrich, Elvedi, Bensebaini – Weigl, Kone – Hofmann (90+2 Kramer), Neuhaus (81 Wolf), Ngoumou (81 Netz) – Plea (81 Stindl) . – Trainer: Farke

Bochum: Riemann – Gamboa (46th Janko), Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Soares (46th Stafylidis) – Losilla (81st Ganvoula), Masovic (69th Client Malong) – Asano – Zoller (63rd Forester), Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei. – Trainer: Letsch