Eintracht Frankfurt 1-3 Borussia Monchengladbach
Now that is a way to make a statement!
To win on your Bundesliga return is one thing, to do so by scoring two goals inside seven minutes is quite another.
That’s exactly what Borussia Monchengladbach did as Bundesliga highlights returned with a bang in the Commerzbank-Arena.
Highlights of the game
Just 37 seconds had elapsed when Alassane Plea found the back of the net before Marcus Thuram made it two six minutes later.
Already there was a good omen for Monchengladbach fans as whenever Thuram has scored this term, they have gone onto win.
This was no different.
The SBOBET Bundesliga betting odds had predicted a close encounter before kick-off.
Frankfurt, last season’s Europa League semi-finalists, may have been on a poor run pre-hiatus but have done reasonably well this season considering they lost their front three last summer of Sébastien Haller (now West Ham), Luka Jovic (Real Madrid) and Ante Rebic (Milan).
Gladbach were actually the league’s pre-Christmas pacesetters and still just about in the title race with Thuram, son of World Cup legend Lilian, making a huge impact up front in his debut Bundesliga campaign.
He would have approved as his side made a ruthless start as Plea played a neat one-two with Jonas Hofmann and fired the ball beyond the reach of Kevin Trapp.
Then, with little time for the shellshocked home team to respond, Thuram doubled the visitors’ advantage.
Ramy Bensebaini showed good footwork down the left before delivering a cross into the box where the perfectly placed Thuram tapped home and led a Fortnite-style celebration which, presumably, he has been practising for two months! (yes, complete with social distancing!)
Filip Kostic stung the hands of Yann Sommer but that was as close as the home side got during the opening 45 minutes as Monchengladbach were only sporadically stretched without ever suggesting they would be pegged back.
As the game wore on, it was clear that Frankfurt’s best intentions were not leading to anything of substance in attack and, even when Thuram limped off midway through the second half, it was Monchengladbach who came closest to scoring.
In fact, only the width of a post prevented Plea from grabbing his second with a superb strike from the edge of the box.
The coup de grace was applied moments later when Evan N’Dicka tripped Breel Embolo in the penalty area and Algerian Bensebaini rifled home the spot-kick under the body of the unfortunate Trapp.
Frankfurt, without their injured seven-goal joint-top scorer this season, Goncalo Pacienca, did manage to pull one back when Andre Silva, on loan from Milan, fired home after a pass from substitute Sebastian Rode with nine minutes remaining.
Yet it was only a consolation and it took a fine goal line clearance from Martin Hinteregger to deny Hofmann a fourth goal.
Trapp also kept out Plea again and sub Patrick Herrmann went close as the visitors finished strongly and easily held on for a deserved win.
A good day for them; a good day for the Bundesliga as the first major European league to make a cautious return to play in light of the global coronavirus pandemic.
One pre-requisite of the return was the playing of matches behind closed doors, with no more than 213 people in a stadium, players or staff.
The footballing world was watching. Mission accomplished and, hopefully, a safe return for all concerned.
Key statistics
Plea’s opener was the second fastest goal in the Bundesliga this season. The record belongs to Augsburg’s Marco Richter who netted against Bayern Munich after just 29 seconds.
It was also the club’s second quickest ever goal in the German top flight behind only Oscar Wendt versus Borussia Dortmund in 2015 (also 29 seconds).
Eintracht took 10 points from their first four matches in 2020, but have lost their last four, conceding 13 and scoring just twice.
Monchengladbach are unbeaten in their last four away games, taking 10 points from a possible 12.
They have now won 52 points since Marco Rose took charge; the most after the first 26 games of any manager in the club’s history.
What’s next?
Things don’t get easier for Frankfurt who travel to the champions Bayern next weekend – albeit they enjoyed their most recent meeting with them, while Bayern, one suspects, will have revenge on their minds.
Monchengladbach will return to the home comforts of Borussia Park and see some familiar faces in the crowd – albeit the next best thing – as they host Bayer Leverkusen.
With the home stands filling up nicely – more than 4,500 cut-outs are in place and another 12,000 or so have been ordered – it could be a fun occasion!
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