2nd matchday
Leverkusen dominance when Hofmann returns to Gladbach
Net twice in the Leverkusen victory in Gladbach: Victor Boniface (r). photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
Bayer Leverkusen is still in remarkable early form. On Saturday, however, the weak Borussia from Mönchengladbach had no chance. The new striker Boniface manages a brace.
The controversial return to former club Borussia Mönchengladbach was triumphant for the national player – but there was no sign of great satisfaction after the clear 3-0 (2-0) win with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday evening.
“At first it was wonderful to walk through the catacombs and see many faces again. If it hadn’t gotten emotional, I would have blamed myself as a person,” Hofmann told Sky TV. He does not take the expressions of displeasure from some of the Gladbach fans personally. “I also expected one or the other whistle to come.”
Boniface scores twice
With his assist for the second Leverkusen goal by Jonathan Tah (45+6), Hofmann “returned” the loud whistles of the Gladbach supporters before the game. The strong Victor Boniface also managed a brace in front of 54,042 spectators (18th minute/53rd). Leverkusen dominated as they pleased and celebrated their next win a week after the strong start to the league against RB Leipzig (3-2).
Coach Xabi Alonso’s team confirmed their remarkable early form against their favorite opponent. Gladbach’s last win against Bayer was four years ago, and since then Borussia have suffered their seventh defeat in eight games in the west duel. In view of Leverkusen’s current strength, after the international break on the fourth day of the game on September 15, FC Bayern Munich looks set to have a really top game. “Today everyone showed what good football we can play,” said international Florian Wirtz. “It was a lot of fun.”
Gladbach’s new coach Gerardo Seoane, on the other hand, still has a lot of work to do, for whom it was a bitter reunion with his ex-club that had given him leave ten months ago. In the first half, the Swiss got to see one-way street football – in the direction of the goal of their Borussia. Leverkusen had significantly more ball possession and dominated the weak Gladbacher at will. When Borussia conquered the ball, it went forward much too slowly or incorrectly.
Boniface, who was committed for a good 20 million euros, scored his first Bundesliga goal after just under 20 minutes and gave him a deserved lead. Just three minutes later, with the exception of Granit Xhaka, the guests celebrated again, but in vain. A hit by the former Gladbacher from a good 20 meters into the net was rightly whistled off because of a previous offside position. The Swiss had refrained from celebrating because of his successful Gladbach past.
Nevertheless, Seoane could not like the sluggish game of his team against, of course, strong Leverkusen. The Gladbach coach sent his substitute players to warm up early on. The threat, however, only worked for a short time. After a wild phase of the game, in which Borussia striker Tomas Cvancara failed to equalize on a counterattack, Leverkusen increased in the sixth minute of added time before the half-time whistle.
Hofmann whistled
The preparatory work was done by the former Gladbacher Hofmann, who, to the annoyance of Borussia, had drawn an exit clause in his contract in the summer and switched to Leverkusen for ten million euros. There had been a number of discussions about the change of the 31-year-old national player, who was planned as a permanent fixture in Gladbach.
Hofmann was whistled loudly before and during the game after eight years on the Lower Rhine. Overall, however, there were no strong expressions of displeasure. This may also have been due to the clear inferiority of Borussia. Boniface made the decision early in the second half, as Marvin Friedrich acted clumsily in the duel and did not significantly disturb the Nigerian in the duel. Only then did the guests take it easy and allowed the Gladbach team to launch some offensive actions, which remained largely harmless.