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Yann Sommer conceded a strange own goal
Photo:
Marius Becker / dpa
Scene of the game:
Yann Sommer was one of the best players in Borussia Mönchengladbach's 1-1 last week against Bayern Munich. The euphoria about the Swiss EM hero stalled in Leverkusen in the third minute: A low shot by Leverkusen's Mitchel Bakker from around 25 meters hit the foot of the Borussia goalkeeper from the inside post so badly that the ball rolled into the goal. It should be the starting shot for a pitch-black Gladbach Saturday evening.
Bad luck in bad luck:
That football is at least partly part of luck, and vice versa, also includes bad luck, was clearly evident in Leverkusen. While Bayer succeeded in almost everything, Borussia ran from one misfortune to the next: After the Sommer's own goal, Jonas Hofmann failed at the post (16th minute), while captain Lars Stindl missed a penalty (43rd). The 3-0 came through a deflected shot from Leverkusen's Moussa Diaby (55th). And because that's not enough, four regular players - Marcus Thuram, Stefan Lainer, Matthias Ginter and Alassane Pléa - had to go out due to injuries.
The result:
The Gladbachers lost 0: 4 (0: 2) in Leverkusen.
In addition to Sommer and Diaby, Patrik Schick (8th) and Nadiem Amiri (87th) also met.
A damper for Borussia at the start of the season.
Read the match report here.
Old Boys Bern:
One of the topics before the game in Leverkusen was the connection between the two coaches.
Both came to their teams in the summer, and both qualified for the Bundesliga, so to speak, through outstanding performances with Swiss long-time champions Young Boys Bern: Gladbach's Adi Hütter moved from Bern to Frankfurt in 2018, while Gerardo Seoane, who was taking over at the time, now came from the Swiss de facto Capital to Leverkusen.
"We both appreciate each other very much and will certainly sit down and exchange ideas in the future," Hütter had said before the game.
First half:
Yes, a lot went wrong at Gladbach. The reasons for the superior performance of the Leverkusen-based team lay primarily in their own performance: The central midfield, consisting of the two South Americans Exequiel Palacios and Charles Aránguiz, won numerous balls in midfield and counter-pressing. In addition, right winger Moussa Diaby was too good and far too fast for Gladbach's 18-year-old US teenager Joe Scally. Both goals in the first half came from the right side, but besides Scally, Sommer also looked at least unhappy, with his second goal still on the ball.
Hot transfer phase:
After the departure of the Bender brothers, a vacuum opened up in the Leverkusen midfield and power structure. Leverkusen signed Robert Andrich from Union Berlin during the week, who was announced as "extraordinarily strong in duels and runs". Andrich played a wild card against Gladbach, and he should be important, especially given Aránguiz's susceptibility to injury. Julian Draxler from Paris Saint-Germain could also play in the central midfield, before the game, sports director Rudi Völler denied an interest in the former national player. The transfer window closes on August 31st.
Second half:
Gladbach improved in the second half, but again couldn't get past the strong Lukáš Hrádecký. And so the second half ended on behalf of the entire game: First, Sommer steered an undercover but central shot from Amiri into his own goal (87th), then Ramy Bensebaini was left lying on the pitch after a collision immediately before the final whistle .
The luck of the capable:
With the Bundesliga greenhorn Seoane, the Leverkusen-based team started the new season with a bit of uncertainty, which was not necessarily wiped away by the draw at Union Berlin. The Swiss is considered a conscientious worker and was almost humbly satisfied with the result in Berlin, but the demands in Leverkusen are higher. Rightly, as showed against Gladbach.
