Sunday 12th September 2021
Again and again this Stindl
The captain is Gladbach’s life insurance
Arminia Bielefeld can keep up in Borussia-Park until 20 minutes before the end, but then Gladbach captain Lars Stindl strikes. He scored 74 and 75 in his 325th Bundesliga game. The foals took their first win of the season, Bielefeld is looking downwards.
Breathe a sigh of relief at Adi Hütter: Borussia Mönchengladbach, led by striker Lars Stindl, celebrated their first Bundesliga victory under the new coach. The foal eleven defeated Arminia Bielefeld with a little difficulty 3: 1 (1: 1) on matchday four, but the three points did not change anything at the worst start to the season in six years.
The strong captain Stindl with a brace (35th / 69th) and Denis Zakaria (72nd) scored in front of 24,500 spectators for Borussia, which got up late. Gladbach last started even worse in 2015 in the zero-point opener under Lucien Favre. The Arminia came through Masaya Okugawa (45th + 2) to the interim equalization, but received their first defeat of the season after three draws in a row.
“It was a victory of will,” commented Stindl on the DAZN microphone on the triple for his team, but emphasized the overriding importance of the longed-for knot loosener despite the effort with the East Westphalia: “The task was very clear, to finally get into the season – and we did that. “
Borussia should not “chase the band any further,” Hütter had demanded before kick-off. But there wasn’t much to see of new momentum on the lawn. Rather, it was Arminia, playing all in red, who lost 5-0 at the same point at the end of April, who started with courage and aggressiveness and had a good chance thanks to Patrick Wimmer (3rd). Borussia, who acted with a three-way chain, found their way into the encounter only slowly.
The only 18-year-old newcomer Luca Netz had his first good opportunity on his starting eleven (11th). The teenager, brought in by league competitor Hertha BSC, showed a good performance on the left flank as did Joe Scally of the same age on the right, both of which played a major role in the increasingly strong offensive game.
Youngster net injured out
In the 20th minute, Gladbach should have taken the lead: National player Jonas Hofmann was alone in front of goalkeeper Stefan Ortega but crossed Alassane Plea – who was sidelined without any problems. For the first time since March 7, 2020, there was standing room in Borussia-Park, so the Ultras had also returned to the stadium. They were finally allowed to cheer: Stindl pulled from 25 meters, Jacob Laursen faked the ball untenable. Because Okugawa equalized seconds before the break after a nice through pass from Manuel Prietl, it remained exciting.
And the bad news for Gladbach didn’t stop: First Hofmann stayed in the dressing room, then the network had to be supported by supervisors from the field. It went back and forth on the lawn, Bielefeld was even closer to the lead at times. Gladbach’s keeper Yann Sommer had to save twice against Joakim Nilsson and Alessandro Schöpf within seconds (61st). A little later, Arminia was knocked out in a very short time: First Stindl headed after substitute Patrick Herrmann’s cross to re-lead, a little later Zakaria even increased in the fall.
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