Gladbach regain German League lead after victory over Frankfurt

Berlin: Borussia Moenchengladbach regained their Bundesliga lead on Sunday with a 4-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt as the five-times German champions bounced back from last week’s defeat at Borussia Dortmund.

Marcus Thuram scored in the 28th minute, capitalising on an urgent counter attack which has become typical of his side under the leadership of Marco Rose.

Oscar Wendt added a second in first half injury time, pouncing on a poor defensive error from Frankfurt’s Martin Hinteregger.

Danny Da Costa’s 59th-minute goal brought Frankfurt back into the match, with the visitors dominant until Nico Elvedi silenced the away fans with a superb headed goal against the run of play.

Hinteregger and Denis Zakaria added one goal a piece for each team in the dying stages, with the home side holding on to a comfortable two-goal advantage.

The win lifts them onto 19 points, one ahead of Bayern Munich, while Frankfurt are back in ninth.

‘Gladbach coach Rose said that his side’s lofty standing was no fluke. “We deserved to win. We consistently tried to build pressure and be brave in pushing for more goals,” he said.

“For us, the Bundesliga is about gradually improving our game and getting better.”

Earlier, a late VAR intervention cost Wolfsburg the chance to go top with Joao Victor’s 84th-minute goal disallowed in a goalless draw against Augsburg.

Wolfsburg celebrated what they thought was a victory after Tin Jedvaj’s cross was tapped home by Victor before referee Tobias Stieler overturned the strike for offside.

The visitors started on top, dominating the first period.

Augsburg striker Florian Niederlechner had a number of chances, going close in the 17th minute with a close range shot.

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund’s declaration of a challenge for the Bundesliga title is not exactly being backed up on the field.

The team were fortunate to emerge with a 0-0 draw from the Ruhr derby on Saturday and has only won two of their last eight games in all competitions.

“We have to do more going forward, we have to invest more. You can see we’re not relaxed, that we’re missing this ease of playing that normally sets us apart,” Dortmund captain Marco Reus said after the lackluster performance in Gelsenkirchen.

Schalke hit the post and the crossbar and clearly had the better chances, while Dortmund barely threatened at all, with only Jadon Sancho going close for the visitors.

“It was difficult for the Dortmunders to score a goal because none of them were in the box, because none of them wanted to be in the box,” Schalke goalkeeper Alexander Nubel said.

Agencies