Borussia Mönchengladbach played host to Stuttgart on Sunday afternoon, with the former looking to put more distance between themselves and the relegation battle. Meanwhile, the visitors knew that a win in North Rhine-Westphalia would see them return to third place in the Bundesliga table.
Eugen Polanski’s side came into the contest with just one win in their last five matches, having suffered defeats to Wolfsburg, Dortmund, and high-flying Hoffenheim during that period. In contrast, Stuttgart had not tasted defeat in the Bundesliga since their loss to Bayern Munich at the beginning of December. However, they were looking to bounce back after a frustrating 2–0 defeat to Roma in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The hosts made three changes to their starting 11 from their stalemate in Hamburg last weekend, whilst the visitors made four changes of their own following the midweek trip to the Italian capital.
After an end-to-end opening ten minutes, Gladbach were awarded a penalty when Franck Honorat broke down the right and sent a cross into the box. The ball struck the chest of Jamie Leweling before inadvertently hitting the German winger’s arm. Haris Tabaković stepped up but saw his effort saved brilliantly by Alexander Nübel.
Stuttgart took the lead on the half-hour mark through Jamie Leweling, capitalising on a defensive mistake from Joe Scally. The American failed to clear a cross in from the right, gifting Leweling an opportunity he would not pass up.
The visitors began the second half just as sharply as they finished the first, with relentless pressing in the midfield resulting in an opportunity for Ermedin Demirović to double their lead and were it not for a good save from Moritz Nicolas, he would have done so.
Sebastian Hoeneß introduced both Deniz Undav and Chris Führich on the hour mark, with the latter making an almost instant impact. After beating his marker with ease, he set up Nikolas Nartey, whose backheel effort took a deflection and ended just wide of the post. Führich whipped the resulting corner into a dangerous area, yet somehow nobody managed to get a meaningful touch on the ball – apart from the unfortunate Joe Scally, who saw it ricochet off his back and past Nicolas.
Stuttgart soon put the game out of sight for the hosts when Deniz Undav turned his marker and fired a powerful shot towards goal, beating Nicolas at his near post.
Hoeneß’s men saw out the rest of the game comfortably and could even have scored more were it not for Moritz Nicolas. A satisfying afternoon for the visitors stretches their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to six games and gives them an advantage over their competitors in the pursuit of Champions League football next season. Polanski will be disappointed not only by the final score but also by the manner of the defeat, with his side never really threatening the Stuttgart back line.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0–3 Stuttgart | Player Ratings
Borussia Mönchengladbach:
Moritz Nicolas (6), Joe Scally (4), Kōta Takai (5), Nico Elvedi (5), Lukas Ulrich (5), Philipp Sander (5), Florian Neuhaus (6), Rocco Reitz (6), Franck Honorat (5), Haris Tabaković (5), Shuto Machino (6)
Others: Wael Mohya (5), Alejo Sarco (5), Kevin Stöger (6), Fabio Chiarodia (-), Yannik Engelhardt (-)
Stuttgart:
Alexander Nübel (7), Josha Vagnoman (6), Finn Jeltsch (6), Jeff Chabot (7), Ramon Hendriks (6), Atakan Karazor (7), Angelo Stiller (7), Badredine Bouanani (6), Nikolas Nartey (6), Jamie Leweling (7), Ermedin Demirović (6)
Others: Deniz Undav (7), Chris Führich (7), Maximilian Mittelstädt (6), Chema Andrés (-), Bilal El Khannouss (-)
GGFN Man of the Match: Angelo Stiller (7)
Crucial to Stuttgart’s success at both ends of the pitch this afternoon, Angelo Stiller (along with the likes of Karazor and Chabot) did not give Gladbach a sniff. With a passing accuracy of 90%, 4 chances created and 5 defensive contributions (via Fotmob), he edges his teammates with his assist for his team’s third goal of the game.
GGFN | Harry Good
