Alexander Prass steals the show as Hoffenheim edge winless Borussia Mönchengladbach
In Alexander Blessin's first home game in charge of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Alexander Prass scored and assisted for Hoffenheim, who edged a thrilling encounter at Borussia-Park, leaving the Foals still searching for their first points of the season.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-2 Hoffenheim
Goals: 0-1 Conté 11’ (assist: Prass), 1-1 Mohya 49’ (assist: Neuhaus), 1-2 Prass 54’ (assist: Hložek)
Blessin made three changes to his Gladbach starting eleven, handing Zento Uno his first Bundesliga start alongside Fabio Chiarodia and 17-year-old Wael Mohya.
Christian Ilzer made four alterations of his own, bringing in Robin Hranáč, Mats Rots, Adam Hložek, and Prass.
Hoffenheim settled first, and after Gladbach spurned a good chance when Lukas Ullrich's effort was blocked by Kōki Machida, the visitors broke the deadlock.
In an intricate passing move, Fisnik Asllani fed Prass, who in turn slid the ball across to Bambasé Conté to finish, and the midfielder certainly did so with aplomb, finding the far bottom corner to establish an early lead after just 11 minutes with Hoffenheim's first shot of the match.
As the half went on, the hosts pushed for an equaliser without success, and Hoffenheim almost doubled their lead just before the break when a close-range free-kick from Asllani cannoned back off the crossbar.
After the restart, however, Gladbach began the second half brightly and were level inside four minutes. Isac Lidberg held up a long ball from the back, before teeing up Florian Neuhaus, who drove forward in midfield and released Mohya to his left. The youngster then cut inside, beat his marker, and curled a clinical finish into the bottom right corner to haul the Foals level.
Parity did not last, however, as Hoffenheim regained their lead moments later when - in the 54th minute - Conté and Hložek combined before finding Prass, who had time to compose himself before finishing coolly into the bottom right corner with his left foot.
Not satisfied with their one-goal cushion, Hoffenheim kept pushing, with Hložek striking the post five minutes later, and Prass himself testing Moritz Nicolas late on. Nevertheless, the score remained 2-1 until the final whistle, leaving Gladbach still without a point.
Man of the Match: Alexander Prass
Making his first league start since April, Prass had a hand in both of Hoffenheim's goals, setting up Conté's opener with a clipped pass into the box before scoring the decisive second goal himself from inside the area.
He also carried the highest pass efficiency figure among his Hoffenheim teammates, underlining a complete display that led him to win the Man of the Match award with 35 per cent of the vote.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Gladbach 0.86 - Hoffenheim 1.36
Fastest player: Robin Hranáč (Hoffenheim), 33.75 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 1-1 by Wael Mohya (Gladbach), 5 per cent
Pass efficiency: Alexander Prass (Hoffenheim), +4.05
