Gladbach's Kruse sinks HSV
Mönchengladbach - Max Kruse’s first-half strike proved enough to hand Borussia Mönchengladbach a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hamburger SV on Matchday 5.
Kruse breaks deadlock
The German forward broke the deadlock 25 minutes into the game, but the home side were made to work hard for their victory against an adventurous HSV side.
Hamburg started the game in a confident manner following last weekend’s draw at home to champions FC Bayern München, dominating possession albeit without creating much by way of scoring chances.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga offered up the first real threat on the Mönchengladbach goal 15 minutes the game, heading Lewis Holtby’s cross wide, before Kruse opened the scoring at the other end, sticking away the rebound after his initial effort had bounced back off the post.
Raffael twice close
Boosted by their lead, the home side seized control, carving out numerous opportunities with Thorgan Hazard, making his first Borussia start, feeding Raffael, who saw his close-range effort denied by Jaroslav Drobny, and Tony Jantschke nodding wide from a Granit Xhaka delivery.
Raffael went close to notching Borussia’s second only 20 seconds after the restart, but Hamburg got away with it whilst beginning to forge a threat of their own on the counter.
Chances at both ends
Yann Sommer did well to palm Matthias Ostrzolek’s rocket shot away on the hour mark following one of the left-back’s numerous forays forward, before Johan Djourou spurned a fantastic opportunity to level following good work from Holtby.
Space began to open up for Gladbach as HSV threw bodies forward in search of a late equaliser, with Fabian Johnson seeing a long-range effort fly just wide, but it was at the other end where the last notable piece of action took place as Hamburg substitute Artjoms Rudnevs slotted wide with the goal gaping.
Line-ups and statistics
