The Rhine derby is often a breathless affair, and this one was no different. In all fairness, the first 25 minutes lacked goalmouth action, although there were plenty of intense duels all over the field.
It was Gladbach who drew first blood, with Marvin Friedrich shouldering Jonas Hofmann’s pinpoint corner beyond Marvin Schwabe and into the back of the net. Hofmann, though, turned villain just two minutes later when he scythed down Florian Kainz at the other end.
After a VAR intervention, referee Sven Jablonski pointed to the penalty spot, and Kainz made no mistake to net his fourth goal of the season.
Jablonski was again the centre of attention shortly before the break, awarding another penalty, this time to the Foals, after Kainz elbowed Hofmann.
It was clearly the right decision and, given Kainz had already received a yellow, the man in the middle had no choice but to send the goalscorer off. From the resulting spot-kick, Ramy Bensebaini sent Schwabe the wrong way to restore the hosts’ lead.
It took let than a minute after the restart for Gladbach to make extra use of their man advantage, and they did so in stunning fashion. There was little Schwabe could do as Lars Stindl’s thunderbolt from 25 yards nestled into the corner.
With Daniel Farke’s men possessing a numerical superiority both in terms of players and the scoreline, the only thing to solve in the remainder of the match was the margin of victory.
Marcus Thuram, looking to get in on the act, wasted a couple of good chances but, in the end, it was Bensebaini who added to Gladbach’s three-goal haul, turning home Hofmann’s low cross.
While Denis Huseinbasic reduced the deficit with a close-range effort, Thuram finally had his goal in injury time when he flicked home Alassane Plea’s pass.
After last week’s 5-1 defeat to Werder Bremen, Farke needed a response, and that is exactly what he got. His side now sit sixth in the Bundesliga table, three positions above Cologne.
Steffen Baumgart and co, meanwhile, will now cast their eyes towards Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League clash at home against Partizan Belgrade as they look to qualify for the next round of the competition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Check out all the stats from this Bundesliga game with Flashscore.
