Maurice Krattenmacher's late brace stuns Borussia Mönchengladbach in seven-goal thriller
Bundesliga newcomers Elversberg stunned Borussia Mönchengladbach at Borussia-Park after substitute Maurice Krattenmacher struck a late brace to secure back-to-back wins for Vincent Wagner's charges.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-4 Elversberg
Goals: 1-0 Bolin 11’, 1-1 Mokwa 29’ (assist: Pinckert), 2-1 Bolin 44’ (assist: Honorat), 3-1 Scally 56’ (assist: Honorat), 3-2 Krattenmacher 66’, 3-3 Keidel 80’, 3-4 Krattenmacher 90’+3 (assist: Futkeu)
Red card: Wagner 45’+3
Borussia Dortmund went into this Matchday 2 clash having failed to win any of their previous four season openers, while Elversberg arrived on the back of a 3-2 victory over BayerLeverkusen on their Bundesliga debut.
Head coach Eugen Polanski made three changes to his starting eleven, with Joe Scally coming in at right-back and Mathieu Nguefack making his first Bundesliga start in midfield. Vincent Wagner named an unchanged Elversberg side.
Bolin breaks the deadlock
Gladbach struck early through Hugo Bolin, who headed home from close range in the 11th minute after Nguefack's deflected effort fell into his path. Elversberg responded almost instantly when Francis Onyeka's low left-footed strike cannoned back off the post.
Elversberg's equaliser came in the 29th minute when David Mokwa won a foot race with Kou Itakura and slotted past Moritz Nicolas from 15 metres, assisted by Lukas Pinckert.
Gladbach then responded before the break as Franck Honorat found Bolin at the edge of the box, and the Swede finished calmly past Nicolas Kristof for 2-1 in the 44th minute.
Scally extends the lead
Wagner was shown a yellow card after the goal and picked up a second for continued protests, seeing red as the sides went in for half-time.
And it was Gladbach came out fastest after the break. Philipp Sander won the ball back centrally and fed Scally, who laid it off for Honorat before the American finished the return pass low into the corner to make it 3-1 in the 56th minute.
Krattenmacher sparks the comeback
The game changed following the introduction of Maurice Krattenmacher, who made an instant impact. Lukas Petkov's shot was saved by Nicolas, and when the loose ball fell to Krattenmacher, he headed it against the crossbar before slotting home the rebound to make it 3-2 just after the hour mark.
Gladbach's lead was wiped out entirely when Felix Keidel curled a free-kick into the top corner from 25 metres in the 80th minute, levelling the score at 3-3 despite Nicolas getting a hand to the ball.
Deep into stoppage time, Krattenmacher struck again. Noel Futkeu supplied the pass at the edge of the box, and the substitute slotted coolly into the bottom corner to complete Elversberg's turnaround and make it 4-3, sealing the final score at Borussia-Park.
Man of the Match: Maurice Krattenmacher
Krattenmacher came off the bench to change the course of the match, scoring twice - the first a close-range finish after his header cannoned back off the crossbar, the second a composed finish deep into stoppage time set up by fellow substitute Futkeu.
He also forced a late save from Nicolas with a fierce shot, a display that also topped Elversberg's fantasy-points ranking for the day.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Gladbach 2.74 - Elversberg 2.56
Fastest player: Franck Honorat (Gladbach), 35.4 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 3-3 by Felix Keidel (Elversberg), 4 percent
Pass efficiency: Cole Campbell (Elversberg), +2.51
Fantasy Heroes: Hugo Bolin (Gladbach, 399 Points), Maurice Krattenmacher (Elversberg, 354 Points), Felix Keidel (Elversberg, 245 Points)
