Albert Gronbaek made one goal and scored a stunning second as Hamburg beat ten-man Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 at the Volksparkstadion on Friday night, leaving the Foals rooted to the foot of the Bundesliga table.
Hamburg struck first from nowhere. After Gladbach had started brightly, with Shuto Machino firing over inside four minutes, a loose ball broke to Albert Sambi Lokonga on 11 minutes and he slid it to Miro Muheim, who lashed a 30-metre strike into the bottom corner. As the official Bundesliga report recorded, it was measured at 129.43 km/h — the fastest goal scored in the Bundesliga this season.
Gladbach refused to fold. Their pressure told before the break, and on the stroke of half-time Joe Scally levelled, his shot deflecting in after a Lukas Ullrich cross was only half-cleared. At 1-1, a side still searching for a first win of the season had genuine hope of taking something home.
Itakura Red Card Changes Everything
Three minutes into the second half, the game turned. Ko Itakura, making his first start in seven weeks in place of the injured Daiki Hashioka, brought down David Moller Wolfe near the halfway line and was shown a second yellow card. Gladbach were down to ten men with more than 40 minutes still to play.
Hamburg made the extra man count. On 60 minutes Gronbaek threaded a pass into the box and Shafiq Nandja drilled in the goal that restored the home lead. Ten minutes later Gronbaek finished the job himself, rifling a long-range effort into the top corner after Gladbach failed to clear — a goal the match data gave just a two percent probability of being scored.
The numbers tell the story of a game that was close until the red card skewed it. The expected goals were almost level at 1.90 to 1.86, and 101 Great Goals noted Gladbach remain at the foot of the table after a defeat that owed as much to one moment of indiscipline as to anything Hamburg did with eleven against eleven. Hamburg, who had made three changes after losing in Frankfurt — Sebastiaan Bornauw, Zakaria El Ouahdi and Patson Daka all returning — simply took the gift and ran with it.
There was still a bright note for the visitors: teenager Wael Mohya, called up to the senior Germany squad for the first time this week, was lively throughout in a losing cause.
So What?
For Hamburg this is the kind of Friday night that changes a season's mood. Beating a direct rival at the bottom, with two goals of genuine quality, gives them breathing room and a hero in Gronbaek, named man of the match after an assist and a screamer decided the game in ten second-half minutes. In a Bundesliga season already shaped by shocks — Stuttgart winning at Leverkusen and the Klassiker draw last weekend — points against the sides around you are worth double.
For Gladbach the picture is bleak and getting bleaker. Bottom of the table, still without the result that turns a bad start into a recovery, and now without Itakura for the next match after a red card on his comeback. A team that creates enough to post 1.86 expected goals away from home is not a lost cause — but a team that keeps finding new ways to lose eventually runs out of time to prove it.
Beyond the Final Whistle
Beyond the Final Whistle: This was two relegation fights in one match — Hamburg's, which suddenly looks winnable, and Gladbach's, which suddenly looks desperate. Muheim and Gronbaek scored goals any striker in Europe would frame, but the moment that decided the night was a tired foul on the halfway line by a defender playing his first game in seven weeks. That is what the bottom of the table does to good players.
Are Borussia Monchengladbach now favourites for relegation, or can they still turn this season around? Let us know in the comments.
