26th matchday
After cup frustration: Mönchengladbach with a draw in Heidenheim
Gladbach’s Julian Weigl (l) in a header duel with Nikola Dovedan. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
After losing the cup in Saarbrücken, Borussia Mönchengladbach cannot win against 1. FC Heidenheim either. The guests disappointed in the second half.
Robin Hack gave Gladbach an early lead on Saturday (9th minute). Eren Dinkci rewarded the Heidenheimers in front of 15,000 spectators for a better second half against disappointing guests with the equalizer (66th).
The team coached by Frank Schmidt and with whiz kid Jan-Niklas Beste, the first Heidenheim player in the German national team, has now been without a win for five games and missed the hoped-for “huge step” (Schmidt) to stay in the league. The first division newcomer remains in the middle of the table, ahead of Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Fast leadership
At the end of October, Gladbach won the previous two meetings this season with FCH. They took an early lead in the first leg and in the DFB Cup. And this time too it took less than ten minutes for Gladbach to make it 1-0. Rocco Reitz won the ball in his own half, then set up Franck Honorat on the right. The French midfielder played the ball into the middle, where Jordan Siebatcheu passed it on and Hack shot it into the bottom left corner.
The Heidenheimers reacted to the deficit and subsequently had the ball more often – but without becoming dangerous. There was only a commotion in the Gladbach penalty area shortly before the half-time whistle when referee Martin Petersen initially pointed to the penalty spot after a foul by Nico Elvedi on Tim Kleindienst. However, the penalty decision was overturned via video evidence; Kleindienst was offside.
The Gladbachers demonstrated efficiency with their half-time lead. The most promising chance of the first half besides taking the lead was missed a few minutes before Florian Neuhaus took the penalty back. After a cross from Joe Scally, the midfielder finished but missed the goal.
Schmidt with a triple substitution at the break
Heidenheim’s coach Schmidt sent defender Marnon Busch as well as Marvin Pieringer and Kevin Sessa onto the pitch with a triple substitution in the second half to provide more offensive power. The hosts came out of the locker room with commitment and two newcomers quickly had chances: Sessa was blocked twice after a corner from Beste (50th), Pieringer was denied by Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas (54th). The Heidenheim team took a number of set pieces and put Borussia under pressure.
The equalizer was indicated: Pieringer put it into the left corner for Dinkci’s remarkable goal. When Gladbach had possession of the ball, Neuhaus had lost the ball with serious consequences before the Heidenheim attack. A Beste corner almost made it 2-1 for the home team, but Tim Kleindienst failed to hit the post (74′).