Diks' dramatic penalty gifts Gladbach victory over Union Berlin | OneFootball

Firing a whopping 20 shots at the target this afternoon, Borussia Mönchengladbach finally got the better of a Frederik Ronnøw inspired 1.FC Union Berlin. A late VAR call gave the hosts a penalty which was emphatically thumped home by Kevin Diks for a 1-0 win.

Union Berlin came under siege in the first ten minutes as Christopher Trimmel bravely denied Rocco Reitz who rounded Ronnøw but failed to convert. At the other end, Andras Schäfer stung the palms of Moritz Nicolas with a long-range effort. 

Ronnøw was eventually called into action on 16 minutes, tipping over a dangerous header from Haris Tabakovic. Crossing was the main weapon of choice for Gladbach as Wael Mohya sought the Bosnian striker on his starting debut but lacked the accurate ball. 

In what was a largely uneventful first-half, the best chance fell to the hosts in the final play as Ronnøw's save to deny Philipp Sander fell kindly for Kevin Diks. Ultimately, the defender couldn't keep the follow up header on target, sending it over the bar instead. 

Janik Haberer was introduced by Steffen Baumgart to start the second-half. However, Gladbach remained the dominant force. Diks luckless afternoon continued as the Indonesian when he appeared to give the Foals a lead only for Rocco Reitz to be spotted offside.

Both sides, desperate for the lead, brought on attacking cavalry with aroynd 20 minutes left. Gladbach called upon Hugo Bolin, while the visitors gave Livan Burcu a run out. Bolin had a fine opportunity from the left when given space but he curled his effort past the post. 

The cagey atmosphere around the stands was reflected on the pitch in the final act. Drama ensued late on as Stanley Nsoki's foul was spotted talking place inside the box by VAR. Up stepped Diks, rifling the resulting penalty into the bottom-left corner for a first win since January.