After three straight wins, the Eagles were undone by a clinical Gladbach side as they suffered just their fourth Bundesliga defeat overall this season. The hosts demonstrated their strength from set pieces, with the first three goals all originating from corners before Hannes Wolf completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Eagles unchanged
Adi Hütter stuck with the same side that enjoyed a thrilling 4-3 victory against Wolfsburg last Saturday. Martin Hinteregger was not passed fit enough to return to the squad, while Amin Younes was on the substitutes bench again following his recent niggle.
Early lead for hosts
On a sunny afternoon at BORUSSIA-PARK, Gladbach started strongly and took the lead after just 10 minutes when Matthias Ginter was left unmarked from a corner to power an unstoppable header past Kevin Trapp.
Eintracht eventually grew into the game, though, and created their first chance on 15 minutes as a typically pinpoint cross from Filip Kostic was headed wide by Luka Jovic. The Eagles went even closer in the 24th minute, with Stefan Ilsanker’s header from a corner being tipped onto the crossbar by Gladbach’s stand-in goalkeeper Tobias Sippel. The rest of the half was evenly matched but without any notable goalscoring opportunities.
No way back
Both sides had chances early on in the second half, Jovic heading wide from Kostic’s free-kick and then Marcus Thuram missing the target with only Trapp to beat. Thuram went close again shortly after, firing just over from a tight angle, but Gladbach did get their second goal just a minute later. Eintracht failed to clear a corner properly and the ball fell to Jonas Hofmann on the right side of the area, and he unleashed a shot that squeezed underneath Trapp.
Eintracht responded with a shot from André Silva and a triple substitution, but Borussia extended their lead in the 67th minute. Again it came from a corner, and after Nico Elvedi’s header crashed against the bar, Ramy Bensebaini was quickest to react and head in the rebound. Eintracht searched for a way back into the game and Younes forced two smart saves from Sippel before fellow substitute Aymen Barkok struck the post, but Wolf added a fourth on the counter in the fifth of six added minutes.
Summary: Frustrating afternoon
The game was not as one-sided as the scoreline suggests, but Hütter’s men never really got into their usual attacking rhythm and were punished by more clinical opponents, particularly from set pieces. Nevertheless, the Eagles remain fourth and must dust themselves down quickly ahead of next Tuesday’s match against Augsburg.
SGE line-up
Trapp – Tuta, Ilsanker (Hasebe 65’), Ndicka – Durm (Chandler 65’), Sow, Rode (Younes 65’), Kostic – Kamada (Barkok 84’) – Jovic, Silva
Goals
1-0 Ginter (10’)
2-0 Hofmann (60’)
3-0 Bensebaini (67’)
4-0 Wolf (90+5’)