Gladbach capitalize on Leverkusen mistakes to earn comeback draw
By Rune Gjerulff @runegjerulff
Bayer Leverkusen were comfortably ahead against Gladbach, but two huge defensive errors by Xabi Alonso's side saw the away side come back to earn a 2-2 draw.
| Lars Stindl. | Photo: Borussia Mönchengladbach |
It was Leverkusen who started the game on the front foot, and the home side found themselves 2-0 up inside the first 20 minutes thanks to early goals from Amine Adli and Kerem Demirbay.
First, Adli outpaced Marvin Friedrich and fired a low shot into the corner of the net, and five minutes later, Demirbay was unmarked and headed in at the near post.
Leverkusen were generally the dominant team, but they allowed Gladbach to pull one back when Jonas Hofmann stole the ball from Lukas Hradecky to make it 2-1 just before the hour mark.
With just a few minutes remaining, Leverkusen committed an even bigger defensive error when Nadiem Amiri's backpass fell to the feet of Marcus Thuram. He found Lars Stindl, who scored against the run of play.
Things went from bad to worse for Leverkusen in stoppage time when Piero Hincapie was sent off for a horrendous challenge on Patrick Herrmann.
Despite tonight's disappointment, 'Die Werkself' remain in sixth place and in position to qualify for the Europa League play-off round, one point ahead of seventh-placed Wolfsburg.