BUNDESLIGA PLAYER RATINGS | Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen – Points shared in a poor performance from Kasper Hjulmand’s side | OneFootball

Borussia Mönchengladbach hosted Bayer Leverkusen in the Saturday evening game, with the hosts looking to end their horrible home form in the Bundesliga.

Gladbach were the better side in the first half and started in the best way possible when a poor pass by goalkeeper Janis Blaswich played Aleix Garcia into danger, and after being dispossessed on the edge of the 18-yard box, it allowed Yannik Engelhardt to score, on his birthday no less, to make it 1-0. 

Kasper Hjulmand’s side struggled to create anything meaningful in the first 45, only managing two shots, and none on target (via FotMob). Leverkusen’s luck then prevailed when one of those shots was deflected into the Gladbach net by Philipp Sander to make it 1-1 right on the stroke of half-time. 

The second half was not much better. Both sides had more efforts on goal, but neither was able to challenge Blaswich or Mortiz Nicolas in the Gladbach net. The best chance of the half came when Gladbach played a ball across the face of the visitor’s goal, but no one was able to get on the end of it. 

Both sides will be unhappy with the point, Gladbach more so, as they were the better side for most of the game, but have now been sucked into a relegation battle, and every point matters. While Leverkusen’s performance as a whole was poor, especially considering the host’s recent form. Due to the results earlier in the day, too, Leverkusen had a chance to close the gap on Stuttgart in fourth, but were unable to take advantage. 

Borussia Mönchengladbach:

Moritz Nicolas (5) – Kevin Diks (5), Nico Elvedi (5), Philipp Sander (4) – Jens Castrop (6), Rocco Reitz (6), Yannik Engelhardt (7), Kevin Stöger (5), Lukas Ullrich (5) – Franck Honorat (5), Haris Tabakovic (5)

Others: Alejo Sarco (5), Hugo Bolin (5), Joe Scally (5), Shuto Machino (-), Fabio Chiarodia (-)

Bayer Leverkusen:

Janis Blaswich (5) – Jarell Quansah (5), Edmond Tapsoba (5), Loïc Badé (4) –  Arthur (5), Aleix García (6), Equi Fernández (5), Alejandro Grimaldo (6) – Malik Tillman (5), Jonas Hofmann (5) – Patrik Schick (5)

Others: Ernest Poku (5), Exequiel Palacios (5), Martin Terrier (-), Christian Kofane (-), Robert Andrich (-)

GGFN Player of the Match: Yannik Engelhardt (7)

I will be completely honest, this was a tough watch. So, Engelhardt will be given the man of the match due to the fact that he scored a goal on his birthday. Since joining on loan from Como in the summer, the 25-year-old has been a strong addition to the Gladbach midfield and formed a strong partnership alongside Rocco Reitz. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan