Borussia Mönchengladbach stormed back to the top of the Bundesliga with a 4-2 victory over Freiburg. The result put the Foals four points clear of fourth-place Bayern Munich, who visit Borussia Park next week.
Image: Imago Images/Nordphoto
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Two ferocious power-plays at the start of each half helped Borussia Mönchengladbach overcome Freiburg on Sunday to extend their reign at the top of the Bundesliga into a seventh consecutive week.
Given the nature of the Foals' football this season — particularly in the Bundesliga, and particularly at home at Borussia Park — it was fitting that the goals fell as they did, Gladbach overwhelming their opponents with periods of irresistible power football and with re-invigorated Swiss striker Breel Embolo invariably involved.
The six minutes immediately after the break against Freiburg were typical. Less than a minute had been played in the second half when Gladbach won the ball in midfield and Embolo exchanged rapid passes with Patrick Herrmann to put his team 2-1 up.
Just three minutes later, the 22-year-old was at it again, driving into the box and winning a penalty which he then failed to convert, but he made up for it in the very next attack, squaring for Herrmann who made it three.
High, aggressive pressing to win the ball, quick transitions with a numerical advantage, and in-form strikers scoring goals for fun, such is the philosophy, instilled by head coach Marco Rose, which has seen Gladbach win six straight home games in all competitions and has supporters dreaming of a first Bundesliga title since 1977.
The Breel Deal: Breel Embolo was the stand-out man against FreiburgImage: picture-alliance/Fotostand/Van der Velden
Yet Gladbach are more than just quick counter-attacks; in Florian Neuhaus and Denis Zakaria, the Foals' lined up against Freiburg with a midfield paring which offered tough tackling, positional awareness, creativity and youth, while Laszlo Benes is finding his feet under Rose. Tobias Strobl and Christoph Kramer remained on the bench.
In Yann Sommer, Gladbach can call upon one of the Bundesliga's most underrated goalkeepers as a last resort, but the key to their success so far this season is in attack. Embolo and Herrmann stood out on Sunday but it's Marcus Thuram who leads the way, the 22-year-old son of French World Cup winner Lilian notching his ninth goal of the season against Freiburg.
With Lars Stindl, Alesanne Plea and Raffael all on the bench, Rose has an embarrassment of attacking riches at his disposal, a result of savvy work in the transfer market by sporting director Max Eberl, recently crowned "shopping king” by kicker magazine in recognition of his transfer dealings.
Sporting director Max Eberl pulls the strings in MönchengladbachImage: picture-alliance/nordphoto/Meuter
'Shopping king'
In recent years, the 46-year-old has recouped almost €100m ($110m) from the sales of Granit Xhaka, Jannik Vestergaard, Michael Cuisance, Mahmoud Dahoud and Thorgan Hazard alone, money which has been wisely reinvested both in players and infrastructure in Mönchengladbach, including a hotel.
Eberl moved quickly and decisively midway through last season to announce the departure of former coach Dieter Hecking, paving the way for the recruitment of the much-coveted Rose from Red Bull Salzburg. The move has paid off, and it's no wonder that Bayern Munich have the native Bavarian on their radar as a potential sporting director.
Bayern's interest will only increase should Gladbach go on to end their seven-year domination of German football – but there are still 21 games to go, the first of which is against Bayern at Borussia Park next Saturday, Germany's traditional "Klassiker” in which Gladbach could open up a seven-point lead over the champions.
And that would be a serious Gladbach power-play.
Bundesliga Matchday 13: In pictures
Mainz beat Frankfurt to wrap up the matchday on Monday. On the weekend, Bayern Munich came up short at home, Dortmund made some capital gains in Berlin, and a victory over Freiburg kept Mönchengladbach top of the table.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Frey
Wolfsburg 2-3 Bremen
Werder Bremen won their first Bundesliga game since September with an intense and closely fought victory in Wolfsburg. Milot Rashica scored two of the visitors' three goals, with the first a cool penalty. Wout Weghorst was in the right place at the right time again to make it 1-1, but Leon Bittencourt's fine header made it 2-1. William's measured finish made it 2-2, but Rashica won it late on.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Pförtner
Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2 Freiburg
Breel Embolo scored twice as Gladbach returned to the Bundesliga summit with an entertaining win over Freiburg. Marcus Thuram's early tap-in was canceled out by Jonathan Schmid's fine free-kick, but Embolo struck again just after half-time before missing a penalty. Patrick Herrmann made it 3-1, Lucas Höler pulled one back for 3-2 before Embolo atoned for his penalty miss with a cheeky chip.
Image: Imago Images/Nordphoto
Paderborn 2-3 RB Leipzig
In an unlikely thriller, Julian Nagelsmann's team held on having initially given Paderborn no chance. Patrik Schick scored a brilliant solo goal before Marcel Sabitzer added a long-range screamer inside the opening four minutes. Timo Werner added a third to continue his fine form. Despite two second-half goals from Paderborn, RB Leipzig held on to go top for at least a day.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch
Bayern Munich 1-2 Leverkusen
Leverkusen handed the defending champions their third defeat of the season on Saturday. Leon Bailey's two goals sandwiched a Thomas Müller strike in the first half. Though the <i>Werkself</i> fell to 10 men with Jonathan Tah's straight red card, the visitors were able to secure all three points in Munich.
Image: Reuters/A. Gebert
Hertha Berlin 1-2 Dortmund
Lucien Favre got a huge win in the capital. Two goals 104 seconds apart from Jadon Sancho and Thorgan Hazard had BVB on their way, but Vladimir Darida deflected a Dodi Lukebakio strike to swing momentum back in the home side's favor. Hummels was sent off before the break to leave BVB with 10 men, but the visitors held on in a scrappy second half that saw Davie Selke denied a goal for offside.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/O. Andersen
Hoffenheim 1-1 Düsseldorf
A late goal from Rouwen Hennings split the points. After Andrej Kramaric had latched onto a superb ball by Florian Grillitsch to give the hosts an early lead, Hoffenheim looked like they were on the way to seal a win. However, with two minutes left, the home side failed to clear a long ball and Hennings smacked a ball into the far corner.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Anspach
Cologne 1-1 Augsburg
Markus Gisdol's life in charge of Cologne hasn't started well, but he was saved by Augsburg's Tomas Koubek. The Czech keeper's decision to come out late in the game was punished by Jhon Cordoba. The equalizer canceled out Florian Niederlechner's close-range effort in a game that also saw both teams have a man sent off.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
Schalke 2-1 Union Berlin
A late winner from Suat Serdar secured Schalke three points and sent the home side soaring into second. A fantastic strike on the edge of the box from Benito Raman put the hosts ahead, but Union regularly posed a threat and were rewarded, Marcus Ingvartsen converting a controversial penalty. Both keepers made strong saves, before Serdar swept home just four minutes from time.
Image: Imago Images/J. Huebner
Mainz 2 - Eintracht Frankfurt 1
In a match that started 10 minutes late due to flares fired onto the pitch and marked by protests against the unpopular Monday night kickoffs, Frankfurt went up 1-0 on a Martin Hinteregger header in the 34th minute. But with Frankfurt down to 10 men, the defender scored an own goal early in the second to level it for Mainz. Sustitute Adam Szalai scored what proved to the winner in the 69th.
