After a poor showing in midweek, Borussia Mönchengladbach produced another poor performance as Eintracht Frankfurt over ran them and won 3-1 at Borussia Park. Jesper Lindstrøm opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Eric Ebimbe would double the lead with his first goal for Frankfurt from a corner, then right before half time Lindstrøm would score his second of the game. In the second-half, Marcus Thuram would score for Gladbach but that did not spur the team into action.
The result sees Frankfurt move into the top four while Gladbach drop down to ninth.
Frankfurt have improved their attack from last season
The departure of Filip Kostic in the summer raised questions about Frankfurt’s attack and without him would they lack attacking presence, but with Lindstrøm improving considerably compared to last year, Daichi Kamada continuing to be consistent and the signing of Randal Kolo Muani, Frankfurt looks a lot better. This result as well as their 5-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen last weekend show that they now possess this attacking dynamism that puts their attack as one of the best in the league.
Lindstrøm’s tally goes to five goals this season and he will want to be in the Denmark starting line-up come their opening game against Tunisia in Qatar as he has shown how he can be a difference maker, while Kolo Muani stakes his claim about why he should also be going to Qatar with France, as he outshone countryman Thuram even without scoring.
Without Yann Sommer, Gladbach will struggle
The Swiss’ presence in goal was greatly missed in this game as Gladbach seemed to be lost defensively, while Tobias Sippel proved that there was a large gulf in class between him and Gladbach’s usual number one. Although, Sippel did not make any obvious goalkeeping errors that led to a goal, but Sommer would have had a better chance to save some of the shots that led to goals.
It is not just Sommer that Gladbach miss. Even since the injury to Ko Itakura, Gladbach have conceded in all their games bar one, which was their 3-0 win against RB Leipzig, while also conceding more than one goal in each of those games. Itakura had made a great start in the Bundesliga, but a ligament injury has kept him out until at least mid-November.
If Gladbach wish to challenge for a European place, their defensive frailties need to be addressed.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
