At the start of the 3rd match day of the Bundesliga, Borussia Mönchengladbach climbed to the top of the table, at least for a while – with significant support from opponents Hertha BSC. The Berliners cause two traders, one of which sits decides the game.
Borussia Mönchengladbach greets at least for one day from the top of the table in the Bundesliga and remains undefeated under the new coach Daniel Farke. Gladbach defeated Hertha BSC 1-0 (1-0) and took first place with seven points. The Berliners, who are still without a win this season and under coach Sandro Schwarz, are stuck in the relegation zone again despite a courageous performance.
In front of 48,411 spectators in Borussia Park, Alassane Plea (34th penalty) scored the decisive goal for the hosts. Jonas Hofmann (70th), who had had a small discussion with Plea shortly before the execution, missed a second hand penalty. Hertha’s Filip Uremovic, who caused the second penalty, was sent off with a second yellow card (69′).
Good news: Marco Richter was back in the Hertha squad for the first time five weeks after his testicular cancer diagnosis and subsequent operation. Before that, the midfielder, who has not had to undergo chemotherapy, had trained with the team for ten days without any problems.
In the starting line-up, however, both coaches trusted their recently proven formations. In the third league game, Farke even sent the same first eleven onto the field for the third time, the last injured captain Lars Stindl was initially only on the bench. At Hertha, on the other hand, the captain was missing: Marvin Plattenhardt was not in the squad due to muscular problems.
It was a lively game with chances for both sides. In the 4th minute, Hertha missed Dodi Lukebakio, who sprinted alone to the Gladbach goal after a bad pass from Christoph Kramer. Shortly thereafter, Plea hit the post after a fine individual performance (7th), Berlin’s Marc Oliver Kempf had decisively deflected the ball. Ten minutes later, the Gladbach fans had twice the goal scream on their lips, but Hertha keeper Oliver Christensen reacted outstandingly to the unsuccessful attempt to clear by his teammate Ivan Sunjic and the follow-up shot by Marcus Thuram.
The guests didn’t hide at all and tried to counterattack with sometimes high pressing and early ball wins. That’s how Hertha always managed to get to the end, especially the fast and dribbling strong Lukebakio and Chidera Ejuke caused the Borussia defense some problems. However, a Hertha player helped when the hosts took the lead: Maximilian Mittelstädt touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area after a cross from Jonas Hofmann, and Plea converted the penalty kick safely. But the Berliners had the chance to equalize before Lukebakio (43rd) made the change.
The game remained largely even in the second half. The guests didn’t give up and now had a little more possession of the ball because Borussia withdrew more. From then on goalkeeper Yann Sommer was often the center of attention, but Gladbach had the best chance of the second half up to that point through Hofmann, who failed to take the penalty on the strong Christensen. When outnumbered, Gladbach then let the ball and opponents run.
