Hoffenheim Hold Off Winless Gladbach 2-1 as Prass Settles It
Alexander Prass's 54th-minute finish answered Wael Mohya's equaliser and left Gladbach with no points from the season so far.
TSG Hoffenheim beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 at Borussia-Park on Sunday, 18 October, deepening the home side's winless start to the Bundesliga season.
How the goals came
Hoffenheim started the stronger side, per the Bundesliga's match report. Gladbach had an early chance, but Kōki Machida blocked Lukas Ullrich's effort, and in the 11th minute Bambasé Conté put Hoffenheim ahead, finishing a passing move that Alexander Prass had started.
Gladbach pushed for an equaliser before the break without success, and Hoffenheim came close to a second just before half-time when a close-range Fisnik Asllani free kick hit the crossbar.
The home side came out better after the interval and levelled in the 49th minute through Wael Mohya, finishing a move set up by Florian Neuhaus. Yahoo Sports describes it as a curling shot into the far corner. Hoffenheim answered within five minutes: Prass, set up by Adam Hložek and Conté, finished composedly with his left foot in the 54th minute.
The closing half-hour
According to Yahoo Sports, the final 30 minutes were open. Joe Scally had a chance for Gladbach but sent it over the bar, and Hoffenheim countered dangerously as the hosts pushed forward. The Bundesliga report adds that Hložek hit the post roughly five minutes after Prass's goal and that Prass later tested goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, but the score held at 2-1.
What it means
For Gladbach, who are under new coach Alexander Blessin, the defeat leaves them without a point this season. Yahoo reports they have lost all five of their Bundesliga games and describes them as the division's bottom side, while Sportschau, which dates its report to matchday 6 on 18 October, frames the match as a meeting of two bottom-of-the-table sides and says the result fuels Gladbach's relegation worries.
For Hoffenheim, the win ends a losing run: Yahoo notes they had won only one of their previous seven matches. Prass, who Yahoo says played in midfield rather than his usual left-back position, was the match-winner.
Neither report in hand included a full league table, so the exact standings are left for the next round of fixtures to show.