Lucien Favre’s Borussia Monchengladbach remain rooted to the foot of the table after yet another loss as visitors Hamburg triumphed 3-0 at Borussia Park on Friday night.
Two goals from Pierre-Michel Lasogga and a third from Nicolai Muller ensure the Foals’ horror start to this campaign continued, with a fourth loss in four matches.
Capitalising on an out-of-sorts defensive display from Die Fohlen, Hamburg were the only side that looked in the game for large swathes of the 90 minutes, and the score sheet told a similar story.
Borussia Monchengladbach
Yann Sommer – 4.5: A bad day at the office behind a defence lacking in confidence. Was sold short for Hamburg’s first goal, but arguably could have done better for the third as he rushed Nicolai Muller.
Julian Korb – 5: Largely anonymous in a worryingly lacklustre defence, Korb never really got going, like other members of this side, and it showed as he was dispossessed five times during the match.
Roel Brouwers – 4.5: Arguably lost Muller and the ball for Hamburg’s third goal. The 33-year-old never looked entirely comfortable at the back in this match before been taken off for Josip Drmic.
Martin Stranzl – 6: After nearly causing a Hamburg goal after giving the ball away early, he settled well, successfully completing 92% of his passes and winning five aerial duels. Withdrawn after 64 minutes with a nasty cut to the head.
Oscar Wendt – 5: Promising early against Diekmeier, Wednt never really grew into the match, remaining largely peripheral, albeit without any major slip up.
Tony Jantschke – 4.5: Had his poor back pass read and cut out by Lasogga for the first goal and despite having a couple of chances, failed to convince with the finish. A disappointing stint in central midfield.
Havard Nortdveit – 5: Looked uncomfortable at times early and gave the ball away, but eventually started to grow into the game.
Lars Stindl – 5.5: Looked hungry in his wide position but was mostly well contained. Struggled to break into the game as he has in others, and was replaced by Ibrahima Traore after 54 minutes.
Thorgan Hazard – 4.5: Playing out wide, Hazard failed to grow into the match, a trend the youngster needs to buck quickly. Only three dribbles and losing possession on four occasions, his attacking threat never materialised.
Andre Hahn – 5: Playing as a makeshift striker, Hahn did his best to influence the match, but much like Raffael, struggled to ever gain a foothold properly.
Raffael – 5 : Largely anonymous for most of the match, the striker looked dangerous in patches alongside Andre Hahn, but never saw enough of the ball to create clear-cut chances.
Substitutes
Mahmoud Dahoud – 4: Booked in his time of the pitch.
Josip Drmic – N/A: Struggled to have an influence.
Ibrahima Traore – N/A: Could not alter the flow of proceedings.
Hamburger SV
Jaroslav Drobny – 6.5: Hamburg’s keeper was never really troubled and capped off a composed display with an assist. His long ball over the top was finished off by Nicolai Muller for Hamburg’s third.
Dennis Diekmeier – 7: Instrumental in creating attacks down the right-hand side, Diekmeier battled well with Wendt both ways and was solid tracking back defensively.
Johan Djourou – 6.5: Never truly troubled in the heart of defence, Djourou was comfortable throughout and as captain, led and marshaled his team from the back.
Gojko Kacar – 6.5: Performed an admirable job alongside Djourou in the middle of the back four, winning four aerial duels and three tackles and was yet another reason why Galdbach struggled to create clear-cut chances.
Matthias Ostrzolek – 6.5: The 25-year-old left-back had a standard, solid game, as he managed to keep Stindl quiet down the flank, without any remarkable contributions from himself going forward. A solid defensive display.
Lewis Holtby – 7.5: Anchored Hamburg in midfield with a brilliant display. His five tackles helped to break down any semblance of a Monchengladbach attack, while he looked to create moves for his own side whenever he received the ball.
Albin Ekdal – 7.5: Camped alongside Holtby in midfield, Ekdal also had a brilliant game. Aerially dominant, strong in the tackle and very accurate with his passing.
Nicolai Muller – 7: Strong in the air and on the ground, Muller’s running and tackling created opportunities and his wonderful chip finish for Hamburg’s third was just reward for his work.
Aaron Hunt – 6.5: On the right of a midfield trio, Hunt’s 86% pass success and three aerial duel wins were important to Hamburg asserting themselves, and the 29-year-old did all the right things as he hardly put a foot wrong.
Ivo Ilicevic – 7: A continual threat on the left, Ilicevic provided the ball for Hamburg’s second goal form a corner, but his tackling and dribbling played just as big a part in his side’s convincing win.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga – 8.5: Played superbly all match, brilliantly reading a poor back pass to snatch his first before powering home a header for his side’s second goal. A constant menace to the Gladbach defence all night and his two goals proved it.
Substitutes
Cleber N/A: Brought on to sure things up in defence.
Marcelo Diaz – N/A: Replaced Hunt with nine minutes left.
Michael Gregoritsch- N/A: Introduced with seven minutes to play.
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