Becker strike separates Union and Gladbach
The final act of Bundesliga Matchday 29 ended with the meeting of Borussia Mönchengladbach and Union Berlin. The Köpenick club had a chance to widen the gap between themselves and fifth-place Leipzig, who succumbed to defeat this afternoon.
Die Fohlen have found wins hard to come by of late. Daniel Farke made a sole change to his line-up with captain Lars Stindl replacing Plea. Meanwhile, the red card suspended Jaekel made way for Diogo Leite in the Union backline.
Both sides took a cautious approach to the match. A sole shot each taken by Juranović and Koné inside the first 20 minutes made up the only attempts on goal. Gladbach struggled to break down the typically resolute Union rear guard we have become so familiar with.
Die Fohlen have found wins hard to come by of late. Daniel Farke made a sole change to his line-up with captain Lars Stindl replacing Plea. Meanwhile, the red card suspended Jaekel made way for Diogo Leite in the Union backline.
After Behrens went close and rippled the side netting, Gladbach had the gloves of Jonas Omlin to thank soon after. A nasty deflection off Ko Itakura left the Swiss keeper scrambling. Fortunately, he was able to claw the ball to safety. It remained scoreless at the break.
Once again, Gladbach’s toothless nature in attack offered Union little to worry about. The Berlin based club had the first chance of note after the restart when Behrens nodded Juranović’s cross wide. Union’s inaccuracies wouldn’t persist – Roussillon’s perfectly weighted cross found Becker who finished with a fine in-step volley. The Surinamese striker’s 9th goal of the Bundesliga campaign.
Farke made a quadruple substitution with 20 minutes to play – Ngoumou, Lainer, Netz, and Pléa all thrusted into the action. Marcus Thuram, who had a quiet first-half by his accounts, started to assert himself more frequently. Two headers from the Frenchman failed to really threaten Rønnow before he was withdrawn. A big victory for the Köpenick outfit as their dream of Champions League football looks more and more realistic with each passing game.