Five-star Gladbach victorious over Köln in Rhine derby rout
A seven goal thriller between rivals Gladbach and Köln saw the hosts come out on top 5-2. Florian Kainz's red card gave Farke's side the man advantage to make Effzeh pay on the scoreboard. Bensebaini, Hofmann, Stindl and Thuram were all very impressive in the Rhine derby win.
| Jonas Hofmann. | Photo: Sven Mandel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Some heavy tackles were on show inside the games opening 10 minutes. Midfielders Kainz and Stindl both landing themselves in the referee’s notebook. Nothing out of the norm for a derby game between these two. Thuram drew the first save of the game when Schwäbe routinely smothered his effort from a tight angle. Köln were using the wings to good avail but lacked precision with the final delivery early on as crosses sailed over Tigges in the box.
However, Gladbach took the lead just before the half hour point – Jonas Hofmann’s delightful corner met by Friedrich in the air who guided home with his head on 27 minutes. Unfortunately, Hofmann would become the villain moments later when VAR spotted the midfielder catching the boot of Kainz in the box. The aforementioned Kainz took responsibility of the spot kick to make it 1-1 by dispatching to the right of Sommer who sprawled left. The once Gladbach villain Hofmann then amazingly won a penalty of his own just before the break as Kainz’s elbow caught the German. Problems deepened for Köln as the already booked Austrian was given his marching orders when issued with a second yellow card. Ice coursing through his veins, Bensebaini stepped up to convert giving Farke’s side the half-time lead.
Gladbach doubled their lead within seconds of the restart as Stindl hammered a long-range effort beyond Schwäbe who stood no chance. It was one-way traffic from that point on as Die Fohlen pushed for a fourth, Marcus Thuram going close on two occasions but failing to hit the target much to the frustration of the Frenchman. Köln rang in the changes on the hour mark as Huseinbasic, Adamyan, and Dietz were thrust into the action to try restore parity for Baumgart’s side.
Gladbach finally managed to put the nail in the coffin on 76 minutes when Bensebaini made it 4-1 bagging his second of the afternoon. Hofmann on hand again to deliver the perfect cross from the right flank to pick out the onrushing right fullback who finished to an empty net. There was some respectability put on the score line for Köln as the game neared its close – a poorly defended ball allowed Huseinbasic to outmuscle substitute Laimer and poke the ball past Sommer despite his best attempts. In the end it was Gladbach who had the last laugh as Thuram finally struck to help his side to a 5-2 victory. The French connection of Plea and Thuram combining nicely to cap off a five-star performance and three points.
