Nahuel Noll stands tall as Gladbach and Paderborn share spoils in goalless draw
Borussia Mönchengladbach and Paderborn shared the points in a goalless draw at Borussia Park, a result shaped by a VAR intervention and a string of fine saves at both ends of the pitch. Paderborn stopper Nahuel Noll piped teammate Mattes Hansen to the Man of the Match award.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-0 Paderborn
Gladbach head coach Alexander Blessin made four changes to his starting line-up following their DFB Cup win over Karlsruhe, with Daiki Hashioka, Lukas Ullrich, Florian Neuhaus and Wael Mohya all coming into the side.
Paderborn boss Ralf Kettemann made six alterations after his side's cup exit against VfB Stuttgart, with Nahuel Noll, Mattes Hansen, Raphael Obermair, Tjark Scheller, Stefano Marino and Gabriel Vidović all handed starts.
Quiet start gives way to late drama
The opening exchanges were cagey, with neither side finding much rhythm going forward. Paderborn improved as the half went on and came closest when Tom Baack's low drive from a short corner routine was pushed away by Daniel Batz on 27 minutes. Robin Hack then saw a chipped effort from 23 metres creep agonisingly wide of Noll's right-hand post.
Joe Scally thought he had broken the deadlock on 36 minutes, heading home at the back post, but the goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee for a foul on Noll in the build-up. Fabio Chiarodia then had a free header saved by Noll, before Scally was denied again by the goalkeeper in stoppage time, bringing an eventful first half to a goalless close.
Chances dry up after the break
Gabriel Vidović forced another good save out of Batz early in the second half, while at the other end Hansen produced a crucial block to deny Mohya after the youngster had beaten three Paderborn players.
Laurin Curda went close with a long-range effort that flashed just past the post, and late substitute Rayan Philippe nearly snatched a winner in stoppage time, seeing his low shot drift just off target. Nicolas Kühn had late efforts blocked and saved for the hosts, but neither side could find the breakthrough as the match ended goalless.
Man of the Match: Nahuel Noll
Noll was the busier of the two goalkeepers and repeatedly came to Paderborn's rescue, denying Scally twice and Chiarodia once from close range during a frantic first half.
His saved-shots figure of two exceeded his expected saves value of 0.8, and he was handed 39 per cent of the player-of-the-match votes for his afternoon's work.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Gladbach 1.2 - Paderborn 0.78
Fastest player: Obermair (Paderborn), 33.6 km/h
Pass efficiency: Hansen (Paderborn), +4.54
Fantasy Heroes: Noll (Paderborn, 232 Points), Batz (Gladbach, 228 Points), Hansen (Paderborn, 197 Points)
