Mönchengladbach climbs to third place with victory in Frankfurt

Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - Alassane Plea has paved the way for a successful restart in the Bundesliga with the second fastest goal in club history.

In the 3: 1 (2: 0) away win against Eintracht Frankfurt, the Frenchman already took the lead for the foal elf after 36 seconds. Marcus Thuram (7th minute) and Ramy Bensebaini (73th / foul) scored the other goals for Borussia, who moved up to third in the table with 52 points past RB Leipzig (51). The Hessians, for whom André Silva (81.) scored, are 13th only five points ahead of the relegation relegation zone.

Eintracht continued where it had left before the Corona break in the Europa League ghost game against FC Basel (0-3). The minute hand hadn't even made a turn when goalkeeper Kevin Trapp had to get the ball off the net for the first time. Jonas Hofmann served Plea in the penalty area, who completed from a semi-right position with a low shot into the far corner. So far, only faster in the league's history was Oscar Wendt, who celebrated the 3-1 win against Borussia Dortmund on April 11, 2015 after just 29 seconds.

The home side looked startled after the early setback and soon conceded the second goal. This time, Bensebaini initiated on the left, his flat cross pushing Thuram from close range across the line. In the exuberance of feelings there was no hug for the goal scorer's preparer, but a kiss on the cheek.

The Frankfurt team clearly noticed the special circumstances of the game in front of empty ranks. Without the frenetic support of their fans, the otherwise strong Hessians looked bland and sometimes helpless. There were also serious deficiencies in defense.

The ball-sure guests, who had changed in the hotel instead of the usual stadium, were quite different. The team of coach Marco Rose combined nicely and worked out further options after the 2-0. Plea failed after a good 20 minutes with a long-range shot to Trapp, Florian Neuhaus put the margin just over the Frankfurt goal.

The only Eintracht opportunity in the first half came from a standard situation. Filip Kostic hammered a free kick from 25 meters onto the Borussia housing, but guest goalkeeper Yann Sommer dived into the threatened corner and parried. There was nothing more to be seen from the Frankfurt offensive, in which Bas Dost was preferred to Silva.

At the beginning of the second half, Eintracht coach Adi Hütter reinforced the attack by taking on Silva for Djibril Sow - but only on personnel. Because the Europa League quarter-finalist was still unable to develop clear chances.

Gladbach was largely limited to managing the lead, but still remained more dangerous. Plea (68.) initially hit only the inside post with a fine swing, a little later Bensebaini was successful from the penalty point. Evan Ndicka had previously brought down Breel Embolo. The late hit of the substitute Silva was then only cosmetic results.

Table soccer Bundesliga

Squad Eintracht Frankfurt

Squad Borussia Mönchengladbach