After Borussia Mönchengladbach’s ice-cold false start to the new Bundesliga year, the contrite coach Daniel Farke buried his hands in his thick winter jacket. The Augsburg coach Enrico Maassen, on the other hand, grabbed manager Stefan Reuter and shouted his joy.
Thanks to art shooter Mergim Berisha, FC Augsburg got their first win since the beginning of October and put Borussia Mönchengladbach under further pressure. With a wonderful volley with the outside of his foot in the 82nd minute, the striker was the match winner for the determined home side in the 1-0 (0-0) in front of 23,158 spectators.
Even the return of French vice world champion Marcus Thuram did not bring the offensively pale Borussia in the end anything. She has no points this year and has not had a three-pointer away from home in the Bundesliga. After their spectacular 3:4 win at Borussia Dortmund, the Augsburgers finally rewarded themselves for their attacking efforts and celebrated a win again after eight games.
Weigl: “Big disappointment”
“It was clearly a deserved win. I’m really happy that the team was rewarded. They played a great game in Dortmund on Sunday, showed an incredibly passionate performance and came back three times. It also shows that we can top it up,” said Reuter on the Sky TV channel. Gladbach’s Julian Weigl, on the other hand, spoke of a “big disappointment” and quarreled: “We played a decent first half. In the second half we got involved in the Augsburg game and hardly played football ourselves. They were then simply more grippy and get chances to score that we hardly ever had.”
Augsburg coach Enrico Maassen kept urging his strikers on to attack Mönchengladbach’s defence. The home side’s quick switchover also worked quite well a few times. Berisha, who immediately returned to the starting XI after his yellow card suspension, let Borussia full-back Rami Bensebaini out in the ninth minute after Arne Maier won the ball and only failed to succeed Yann Sommer’s goalkeeper, Jonas Omlin.
Gladbach reveals speed deficits
Borussia revealed what could not have been overlooked in the 2-3 win against Bayer Leverkusen to restart the Bundesliga: the opponent’s quick switching game causes problems because of their own speed deficits. At least Stefan Lainer (19th) was able to cause some danger with his shot from 17 meters.
Much more important than Lainer on the offensive is Thuram. The 25-year-old Frenchman was back in the starting XI after persistent knee problems and replaced Jonas Hofmann, who was ill. Thuram is not only dangerous in goal, but can also hold the ball in the top.
The supposed first goal of the game was scored by Augsburg. After a corner kick, Omlin, pressed in the six-yard box by Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, couldn’t get the ball right. The Croatian newcomer Dion Beljo (36th) was actually there and dusted off from a very short distance. However, the video assistant switched on and recognized the hit because of a wafer-thin offside position.
The Augsburgers came out of the dressing room with determination and vehemently pushed for the goal. However, neither Maier (51st) nor Berisha (52nd) were able to defeat Omlin. Borussia did not succeed in this phase in the offensive. The Augsburgers were not able to keep up the pace of attack until the end, but Berisha’s remarkable goal after a cross from substitute Kelvin Yeboah was enough to win.
