PLAYER RATINGS | Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach | OneFootball

Easter Sunday, and just like Jesus,  Borussia Dortmund came back from the dead (this is a stretch, they were only a goal down) to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2.

The game started at a breakneck pace with both teams just going hell for leather, and it was an end-to-end affair, but then they settled down, and that saw Dortmund gain control. However, despite this control, they were unable to challenge Jonas Omlin. Then, Ko Itakura received the ball in Dortmund’s half before slaloming through the hosts’ defence, mainly due to poor defending by Karim Adeyemi, after a one-two with former Gladbach player Ramy Bensebaini. Itakura finished off the move to make it 1-0.

Gladbach looked like they were going to head into half-time in the lead, but within the space of eight minutes, they were 3-1 down. The substitute Carney Chukwuemeka was the catalyst for two of these goals, as he counterpressed Gladbach before getting the ball and playing it out wide to Pascal Groß, whose cross was met by Serhou Guirassy to make it 1-0. A similar scenario occurred for the second goal when a Yan Couto cross was diverted in by Felix Nmecha, who made a late run into the box. For the final goal, a Guirassy shot, which came from a Chukwuemeka cut back, was initially saved by Omlin, but the save landed into the path of Daniel Svensson, who made it 3-1.

The second half was a more even affair, and a early penalty awarded to Gladbach upped the tension of the game (I imagine this is what the Last Supper felt like, okay, I’ll stop.), espeically as a disagreement between Guirassy and Kevin Stöger broke out, before the Austrian converted the penalty.

However, despite Gladbach only being within one goal of Dortmund, they never really looked like they were able to create the chance to score the equaliser.

The win for Dortmund is a big one because of the results from yesterday. They have only two points off of the European spots and four points off of RB Leipzig, who occupy the final Champions League spot. die Schwarzgelben are now on a four-game unbeaten run in the league and with a favourable set of games on the horizon and the unpredictability of the race for the European spots, there is a real possibility that they will qualify for Europe.

For Gladbach, the loss does not do their pursuit of European football any favours; however, they are only three points off of Mainz, so the possibility of European football next season is still alive. The defeat did show some of Gladbach’s limitations, especially when it comes to going forward. I have said it before, but I am still of the belief that Gladbach can do better than Gerardo Seoane, not matter what happens at the end of the season, as the potential in the team is there, it is just not being utilised.

Borussia Dortmund XI:

Gregor Kobel (5), Niklas Süle (5), Waldemar Anton (5), Ramy Bensebaini (5), Yan Couto (6), Felix Nmecha (6), Pascal Groß (6), Daniel Svensson (6) Maximilian Beier (-), Serhou Guirassy (6), Karim Adeyemi (5)

Others: Carney Chukwuemeka (8), Julian Ryerson (5), Sahil Özcan (5), Julian Brandt (5), Emre Can (5)

Borussia Mönchengladbach XI:

Jonas Omlin (5), Joe Scally (5), Ko Itakura (6), Nico Elvedi (5), Lukas Ullrich (5), Rocco Reitz (5), Julian Weigl (5), Tomas Cvancara (5), Kevin Stöger (6), Alassane Plea (5), Tim Kleindienst (5)

Others: Stefan Lainer (5), Robin Hack (5), Luca Netz (5), Shio Fukuda (-), Florian Neuhaus (-)

GGFN Man of the Match: Carney Chukwuemeka (8)

After coming on for the injured Maximilian Beier, Chukwuemeka swung the momentum well in favour of Dortmund. The 21-year-old played an important role in all three of Dortmund’s goals. He SHOULD be a key part of the Dortmund rebuild going forward, and everything possible should be done to keep him permanently.

GGFN | Jack Meenan