Borussia Monchengladbach continued their stunning resurgence in the Bundesliga, with a late Raffael strike sealing a 2-1 win at home over Hannover on Saturday.
Ibrahima Traore opened the scoring for Gladbach after a great ball from Mo Dahoud, before Artur Sobiech locked up the scores at 1-1. The striker’s profligacy cost his side however, as a number of wasted good chances came back to bite Hannover as Raffael struck home the winner six minutes from time.
Gladbach’s resurgence is showing no signs of slowing down
This win marks eight matches undefeated in the league for the home side and a continuation of the incredible turnaround since they lost their first five matches of the season. Andre Schubert has a side full of belief and confidence that is driving them forward, and all of the players have bought into the philosophy that Schubert has brought with him. The confirmation of him as permanent head coach will only help this moving forward, with the future of the club now set up to steam into the winter break.
Raffael is a man on a mission
The Brazilian’s sixth goal in seven Bundesliga outings was the difference here, and Andre Schubert appears to have a man that he can always rely on. Raffael is the fulcrum that Gladbach’s attack works around and relies upon, and the 30-year-old’s value to his side is clearer than ever.
He has scored or set up a goal in almost every single match this year, and the remarkable turnaround of their season has as much to do with him as it does manager Schubert.
Hannover struggling to make headway
This loss away marked Hannover’s eighth defeat of the season, leaving them struggling just one point outside of the bottom three. Their 13th-place finish of last season with only a two-point gap to relegation is looking like it could well be replicated. The poor start to the season has seen them win only three times, and heading towards the winter break it is high time that Michael Frontzeck kicks his charges into gear. A different Artur Sobiech here could have contributed to a very different result, and Frontzeck needs to begin stressing to his forward the importance of not wasting chances.
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