Spoils shared in Gladbach

VfB put on a defensively disciplined display away to Borussia Mönchengladbach and had their noses in front at the break, but a late strike for the home side saw the points shared in a 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 53,000 at Borussia Park.

VfB trainer Huub Stevens made two changes to his starting eleven from last weekend’s derby win over Freiburg, with Georg Niedermeier and Timo Werner coming into the side, whilst Vedad Ibisevic took a spot on the subs bench.

Daniel Didavi had been a doubt during the week with a toe problem, but the midfielder made the starting eleven once again and by the 12^th minute, his involvement was to pay dividends. Daniel Schwaab swung in a cross to the right, were Timo Werner swung a boot but failed to make a clean contact, instead sending a pass spinning into the path of Didavi, who blasted his shot into the top of the net to mark his first Bundesliga goal in the VfB colours. With the advantage to prove a cushion, trainer Huub Stevens‘ men stood solid at the back and allowed the hosts to create very little.

As the half wore on, the home side began to increase the pressure and in the 36^th minute they had a double chance to equalise. An initial header from Juan Arango was parried by Sven Ulreich, who reacted quickly to make an excellent rebound save from Patrick Herrmann. VfB could, and maybe should, have increased their advantage before the break, with Marc-André ter Stegen denying Martin Harnik and then Timo Werner. A further effort in added time from Didavi failed to find the target and thus, the visitors took their slender advantage into the half-time break.