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Elversberg's dream start continues with comeback victory in Gladbach
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- Elversberg's dream start continues with comeback victory in Gladbach
Elversberg's dream start continues with comeback victory in Gladbach
Elversberg recorded back-to-back wins in their first two Bundesliga encounters as they came from 3-1 down to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-3 with an injury-time winner.
The hosts scored their first Bundesliga goal of the season with the first chance of the game. Hugo Bolin was in the right place to put them in front from close range after Mathieu Nguefack sent the ball back into the danger zone following Nicolas Kristof 's punch from Franck Honorat 's corner-kick.
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Elversberg nearly equalized right away, but Francis Onyeka was denied by the post after he won back possession at the edge of the box. At the other end, Wael Mohya's crisp finish was disallowed for offside.
The debutants equalized in the half-hour mark as David Mokwa beat Ko Itakura in the race before beating Moritz Nicolas for his second goal in as many games. Tim Kleindienst had the next chance when his header narrowly missed the target.
Kleindienst orchestrated their second goal just before the half-time break. Gladbach 's newly-appointed captain quickly took a throw-in before Felix Keidel reacted to close passing lines. As usual, Honorat then had the vision to spot the unmarked Bolin as the Swede midfielder completed his first Bundesliga brace.
Vincent Wagner saw a yellow card for protesting Martin Petersen's decision to allow the goal. And, as the teams entered the dressing room, Elversberg's boss continued his enquiry as he ended up becoming the first coach to get a red card this season.
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Despite not having Wagner on the touchline, the newcomers remained dangerous in the end-to-end start to the second-half. Jan Gyamerah hit the sidenetting inside the first few seconds before Kristoff denied Kleindienst from close range.
Nicolas made a decent save from Lasse Günther's effort as chances continued to appear at both ends. Moments later, Gladbach extended their lead as Joe Scally scored from Honorat's second assist of the game.
The United States fullback wasn't supposed to stay at the club with interest from Premier League clubs, but he scored on his first start of the season in place of the injured Daiki Hashioka .
However, Scally and co failed to keep the two-goal lead. Nicolas denied Lukas Petkov twice, but the second one fell straight to Maurice Krattenmacher . The former FC Bayern youngster was fortunate enough to score his first Bundesliga goal after his initial attempt hit the crossbar.
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Despite the number of goals at both ends, both goalkeepers still made some decent saves in the game. Kristoff was next to stay alert when he denied Mahoya what would have been a deserved goal.
As a result, Elversberg leveled the score ten minutes from time with a cracking free-kick strike from Keidel. Nicolas pulled one more excellent save to deny Krattenmacher before the 21-year-old broke the hearts of the home fans in injury-time.
The midfielder completed his brace after fellow substitute and new signing Noel Futkeu provided the perfect assist. Elversberg won both of their opening Bundesliga encounters, while Gladbach conceded seven goals as they start a season on the wrong foot once again.
Elversberg will next face the mighty FC Bayern at home, without their suspended coach. Gladbach will search for their first points when they travel to Freiburg , who have won their first five competitive games so far this season.
