Breathe a sigh of relief on the Lower Rhine: Borussia Mönchengladbach stopped Union Berlin’s high-flyers and celebrated another home win in the Bundesliga after 217 days. Coach Gerardo Seoane’s team won 1-0 (0-0) on Saturday thanks to a last-minute goal, inflicting their first defeat of the season on Köpenick.

For Gladbach, who last celebrated a success in their own stadium on February 24, 2024 in a 5-2 win against VfL Bochum, Tomas Cvancara (90th + 6th) scored late. While Borussia climbed into the middle of the table with six points thanks to their success, coach Bo Svensson’s team missed out on jumping into a Champions League place, at least temporarily.

Seoane made two changes compared to the 2-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt. In addition to Philipp Sander, who replaced Rocco Reitz in the first eleven in central midfield, Alassane Plea was supposed to pose a threat on the offensive. On the other hand, Jordan, who was loaned to Mönchengladbach last season, stormed from the start.

Good performances, but only a few points – that was the first interim conclusion from Gladbach after four match days. We urgently need to get three points against Union. But Borussia started nervously and repeatedly made mistakes in the early stages.

In contrast, the self-confident guests radiated a noticeable calm – and were waiting for quick counterattacks. Tom Rothe crossed dangerously from the left into the penalty area, but Benedict Hollerbach’s attempt only went into the side netting (9th). Just two minutes later, Union launched virtually the same attack, but now Hollerbach shot into the arms of goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas.

The Seoane team had problems combining through the Unioner chains. And so a standard was needed, at the end of which Sander chased the ball over the goal (17th). As a result, the game worked out, but after a great individual move by Luca Netz, Kevin Stöger also missed from a central position (26th).

Borussia remains in control of the game. While Union’s offensive was off, Mönchengladbach repeatedly combined with clever passes down the wing towards the guests’ penalty area. But the buyer is missing there.

In the second round the party was bubbling along. Gladbach now lacked conviction on the pitch, which ensured that the guests again showed themselves in front of the penalty area. However, compelling chances remained in short supply, Yorbe Vertessen (86th) hit the post in the final phase.