Mainz substitutes pay dividends to help edge 7-goal thriller in Gladbach
| Photo: Christof Koepsel/Getty Images. |
The post-Eugen Polanski era at Borussia Mönchengladbach has gotten off to a losing start under interim coach Jan-Moritz Lichte. Despite taking the lead, the Rhineland outfit were beaten 4-3 by FSV Mainz 05, whose late substitutes made the decisive difference.
A goal-laiden first half began inside 11 minutes as Gladbach opened the scoring with a touch of fortune. Lukas Ullrich cut inside and unleashed a shot which deflected off teammate Florian Neuhaus, with the ricochet proving enough to wrongfoot Alexander Schwolow.
Mainz waisted no time in responding just seven minutes later. A rather routine throw-in caught the Gladbach defence napping, allowing Sheraldo Becker to shrug off Joe Scally. From there, the Surinamese forward supplied the perfect cross for Phillip Tietz to convert.
The action was end-to-end thereafter, with both Becker's acrobatic effort and Hugo Bolin's drive testing Nicolas and Schwolow respectively. Mainz took the lead just before the break when Nadiem Amiri and Anthony Caci combined, leaving Becker to head home unmarked.
Following the interval, drama continued in spades. A Tietz handball resulted in a penalty, from which Kevin Diks smashed the outside of the post. Fortunately for the hosts, Issac Lidberg restored parity with the next significant attack, steering in Ullrich's cutback from close range.
Things got feisty when a fired up Neuhaus gave Stefan Posch a shove into the advertisement hoarding. Both sides freshened things up in the final quarter – Wael Mohya came on for the hosts, while Urs Fischer turned to Eric Martel, Danny Da Costa and Ransford Königsdörffer.
Of course, there was a poetic twist to come as former 1.FC Köln man Martel came back to haunt his ex-rivals and find the net. With Da Costa nodding at the back post, Gladbach fans started to pour out of the stadium having suffered enough pain for another day.
Gladbach received another late lifeline with a spot-kick for Martel's hand ball, albeit probably a fraction too late. Shuto Machino converted to reduce the deficit, but it wouldn't help the hosts rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga table, suffering another 4-3 defeat on home soil.
