Thuram brace keeps Gladbach's hopes for Europe alive
Marco Rose's stated goal of leaving behind European football behind in Gladbach clung onto hope after his foals engineering an impressive comeback 2-1 win over Freiburg on Saturday evening.
The BMG's second consecutive win pushes them up to seventh place in the table, at least for the night.
The BMG's second consecutive win pushes them up to seventh place in the table, at least for the night.
| Marcus Thuram. | Photo: Borussia Mönchengladbach |
Within the first ten minute, the visiting Breisgauer had taken the lead. After Christian Günter sent Ermedin Demirovic through on the left, the SC striker served up a lovely cross for Roland Sallai in the center. Streich's Hungarian X-factor finished cooly.
Rose's foals appeared all out of sorts for the duration of the first-half. Freiburg managed to unleash wave after wave of pressure and might have entered the dressing room up 3-0 were it not for some strong saves from keeper Yann Sommer.
Rose employed a critical tactical tweak at halftime, bringing on Denis Zakaria for the ineffective Hannes Wolf and switching to a three/five man flexible back set. The change enabled the hosting XI to apply immediate pressure.
Less than a minute after Stefan Lainer missed an excellent chance, Marcus Thuram netted the equalizer with the help of a slight deflection off Baptiste Santamaria. Thuram doubled the advantage seven minutes after that, this time finishing at the end of a sparkling individual run.
Two goals were disallowed in the final half hour. Gladbach's celebrations of a 3-1 were cut short after it was revealed Lainer fouled Manuel Gulde in the lead-up. A Freiburg equalizer at 90+5 was cancelled out after a VAR review shored Lucas Höler slightly offside.
The hard-fought win gives Gladbach a fighting chance of still securing European football next season. FC Union Berlin still have a chance to reclaim seventh place in the table with a win in the Bundesrepublik's capital city derby tomorrow.
