Borussia Monchengladbach are finally off the mark. After six straight defeats to start the season, Alexander Blessin's side won 3-2 at VfB Stuttgart on Friday night, with 17-year-old Wael Mohya scoring one goal, making another and stealing the show at the MHPArena.
Gladbach arrived knowing one more defeat would make them the first team ever to lose their opening seven games of a Bundesliga campaign. Instead they produced their best performance of the season, coming from behind to beat a Stuttgart side who have now lost five of their first seven league matches.
Demirovic Stunner, Scally Backheel
Stuttgart started perfectly. Ermedin Demirovic volleyed home from distance inside five minutes, Moritz Nicolas getting a hand to the shot but unable to keep it out, as the Bundesliga match report recorded. The hosts dominated the next half hour, with Ramon Hendriks and Lorenz Assignon both going close.
Gladbach grew into the game, though. Fabio Chiarodia forced a save from Dennis Seimen, and on 38 minutes Zento Uno's volley was diverted in by Joe Scally with a brilliant backheel flick. Mohya then struck the crossbar in stoppage time as the visitors finished the half on top.
Mohya Turns The Game
The teenager took over after the break. On 51 minutes Mohya battled past two markers on the left, recovered from a slip and cut the ball back perfectly for Shuto Machino to fire into the roof of the net. It was the sequence of the match, and the detailed player ratings named Mohya man of the match for exactly that kind of direct, fearless work.
Stuttgart threw on Jamie Leweling, Deniz Undav and Bilal El Khannouss, but Gladbach struck again on 66 minutes. Scally won a scramble in the box and scooped the ball across for Mohya to head home from close range and make it 3-1. Demirovic pulled one back with a header from Leweling's cross on 83 minutes, but Gladbach held on.
So What It Means
Gladbach remain bottom, but three points changes everything about the mood. They are no longer pointless, they are no longer chasing an unwanted record, and Blessin has a first win to build on, starting with the DFB-Pokal in midweek. For the rest of the Bundesliga weekend picture, see our coverage of the Kompany news at Bayern.
Stuttgart are the opposite story. Sebastian Hoeness made six changes after the midweek 1-1 Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid, and his side still slipped to 14th on six points. A team impressing in Europe cannot keep losing at home in the league. Their next tests will tell whether this is a blip or a slide, in a weekend that also brings the Clasico in Spain.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This was not a lucky first win, it was a teenager deciding a game his senior team-mates had been losing for six weeks. Mohya did not just assist and score, he changed the belief in the whole side. Gladbach are still bottom, but a team with a 17-year-old playing like this is not a team that stays bottom for long. Can Mohya now do it again next week, or will Stuttgart's slump deepen first? Let us know in the comments.
