There was tension right to the final whistle as Marvin Ducksch finished with a brace and Michael Zetterer put out a strong performance in goal. In the end, Werder were rewarded for this and earned a 2-2 draw in Friday night’s away match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The Green-Whites equalised twice through Marvin Ducksch (65’, 89’) after Marcus Thuram (48’) and then Florian Neuhaus (73’) put the Foals ahead.
Squad news: There were changes in the squad ahead of the away match in Gladbach: Captain Marco Friedl, Christian Groß and Leonardo Bittencourt were absent due to illness. Milos Veljkovic was out with muscle problems, and head coach Ole Werner was also without regular goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka (illness). Fabio Chiarodia and Michael Zetterer came into to replace them and make their debuts in the starting eleven in the Bundesliga. Ole Werner also opted for a flexible 3-5-2 formation.
Starting eleven: Zetterer, Jung, Stark, Pieper, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Füllkrug, Schmidt, Gruev, Chiarodia.
The bench: Dos Santos Haesler, Philipp, Salifou, Schmid, Dinkci, Opitz, Buchanan, Dietrich, Berger.
Highlights from the first half:
8th minute: Thuram plays the ball to the back post on the right side of the penalty area. Stindl has too much room there and can shoot from eight yards. Fortunately, the Gladbach player is off balance and hits the ball over.
22nd minute: What a great save by Zetterer. Gladbach come down the right-hand side, Thuram is free in the six-yard box and can run towards goal. All he had to do is put the ball over the line, but Zetterer throws himself at the ball with everything he has and blocks!
32nd minute: Stage wins the ball off Kone very well in front of the Gladbach penalty area and Werder then play quickly. A flat pass goes right; Ducksch plays a through ball to Füllkrug, who is stopped from finishing from close range at the last second, probably fairly. If Lücke had shot, it would surely have gone in.
42nd minute: A great chance for Gladbach. After a Werder corner, Itakura turns up the pace. Gladbach drive forward and at the end Thuram tries to lift the ball over the onrushing Zetterer, but hits it over.
45th minute: half time at Borussia-Park. The game is even with both sides having had chances.
Highlights from the second half:
48th minute: 1-0. Hofmann passes in from the left to Thuram, who runs towards goal from a central position just outside the penalty area. The Gladbach player shakes of the Werder defence and converts from 15 yards out.
55th minute: Borussia are imposing themselves well, and once again comes down the right with a flat ball. Hofmann shoots from close range, and Zetterer is beaten, but Weiser is able to block the ball on the line
61st minute: Zetterer is having a very strong game. Thuram moves forward at speed towards goal and tries to finish in the bottom right corner. Zetterer is quick on his feet and keeps us in the game.
65th minute: 1-1! The Werder away end goes wild. Ducksch gets the ball from Schmid and dribbles around both Omlin and Itakura. He slides the ball in from the right at a tight angle. SVW are back level!
73rd minute: Florian Neuhaus scores for Gladbach to make it 2-1. First, Zetterer makes a strong save to deny Stindl, but then Werder can’t clear the ball, and it comes to Neuhaus just outside the box, who hits a nice volley to put the hosts ahead once again.
89th minute: Duckschi scores his second! Füllkrug lays off a lobbed pass into the penalty area softly for Ducksch, who places the ball into the bottom right corner!
90+5th minute: Full time in Gladbach! Werder take home a point.
Summary: Many would say that games like these are the best. After an even first half, Gladbach were on top for most of the second half, but coming back twice is no easy task. It’s a classic case of saying that we’ll take a point.
