Honours even between Champions League-chasing Borussia Mönchengladbach and Schalke
There was drama, suspense, twists, turns and goals at Borussia-Park, but ultimately there was no winner as high-flying Borussia Mönchengladbach and Schalke shared a 1-1 draw.
Gladbach 1-1 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Kramer (24'), 1-1 Vestergaard (o.g. 62')
Thilo Kehrer's header got the goalmouth action underway and it was another header from a corner, this time at the other end from Matthias Ginter, which set Christoph Kramer up to put the hosts in front at the far post. In a tale of headers, Naldo had a goal ruled out for a nudge on Jannik Vestergaard and Ginter showed once again how screwed on his head is as he flicked Kehrer's goalbound effort instinctively over the crossbar. Vincenzo Grifo planted a shot on the crossbar with Lars Stindl slotting in the rebound, but the offside flag was raised. Video Assist confirmed that decision before convincing the referee to reverse a decision to award Gladbach a penalty late in the first half.
Schalke coach Domenico Tedesco waited just 15 minutes of the second half before sending on Guido Burgstaller to bolster his attack, and within minutes his side were level. Daniel Caligiuri's low cross from the right was turned inside his near post by Vestergaard, who was the league's most prolific goalscorer coming into the game and added an unwanted goal to the three he has scored at the right end. Burgstaller snapped a shot over and was denied by Yann Sommer as the chances multiplied at both ends, Thorgan Hazard going close at the other end with a header. They came into the game side by side in the standings, and that is how they ended it with nothing between the teams, who remain fourth and third respectively.
Watch: McKennie: "We play for the badge on our chest!"
Match stats
- Kramer's goal ended a three-year drought, scoring his first goal since December 2014 – a run of 79 games.Embolo was making only his second start in the Schalke starting XI this season; he scored his only two Bundesliga goals to date against Gladbach last season.Schalke are now unbeaten in nine games, which is their longest undefeated spell in almost eight years. Borussia have failed to score more than two goals in any of their last 12 home Bundesliga games. The last time they netted more was in a 4-2 win over Schalke in March.Schalke and Gladbach have the most goals from set pieces in the league (11)Gladbach’s Jannik Vestergaard and Matthias Ginter are the league’s top scoring defenders with three goals apiece. Schalke’s Naldo follows just behind on two.
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Line-ups
Gladbach: Sommer - Elvedi, Ginter, Vestergaard, Wendt - Hazard, Kramer (79' Cuisance), Zakaria, Grifo (76' Bobadilla) - Stindl (c), Raffael
Subs: Sippel, Oxford, Drmic, Villalba, Hoffmanns
Absentees: Benes (metatarsal), Johnson (back), Herrmann (mucle tear), Hofmann (knee ligaments), Strobl (knee ligaments), Traore (muscular), Jantschke (skull)
Coach: Dieter Hecking
Schalke: Fährmann (c) – Kehrer (67' Stambouli), Naldo, Nastasic - Caligiuri, McKennie, Meyer, Oczipka - Harit (83' Konoplyanka) - Di Santo, Embolo (60' Burgstaller)
Subs: Nübel, Reese, Riether, Coke
Absentees: Bentaleb (shin), Insua (pericarditis), Goretzka (lower leg), Schöpf (knee)
Coach: Domenico Tedesco
Watch: Hazard: "We gave everything!"