Borussia Mönchengladbach missed out on a major liberation blow after four defeats (including 17 goals conceded) in a row recently. Adi Hütter’s side were 1-0 up until injury time before hard-working Hoffenheim rewarded themselves with a point late on through Akpoguma.
After Stindl initially let slip the visitors’ lead (22nd), the TSG express again rolled at high speed towards keeper Sommer, who was really warmed up in temperatures around three degrees Celsius. The Swiss national goalkeeper made saves against Kaderabek (23rd), Rutter (27th) and Raum (28th), among others. Seconds later, Baumann also intervened in the action once again and deflected a Stindl shot into the back of the net (29th).
The captain’s finish was the spark for the visitors, who from then on created a clear plus of chances until the final whistle. Herrmann missed first (31st), Embolo was caught by Baumann’s foot defence (34th) and Thuram could not get his shot past Posch. But after the following corner, the bell rang: Embolo pushed a Herrmann corner, unfortunately extended by Dabbur, into the net to give Borussia a 1:0 lead at the break (35).
Hoeneß brought on a new attacker in Bebou (for Dabbur) at the break, but it was first midfielder Geiger who narrowly missed the ball with his full-stretch shot (47th). But all in all, TSG lacked a clear structure in their forward play after the restart, also because Gladbach stood firm.
It was only after a little more than an hour that the Kraichgauers intensified their efforts again: Sommer first scrambled a Rutter header off the line (65th), before Posch put a header over the crossbar after the subsequent corner (66th).
There was hardly any relief from Borussia, rather the Foals defended their own goal with all their might against the eager Hoffenheimers. This was successful until the hectic injury time, before TSG still managed to earn a deserved point: After Vogt’s chip ball, Bebou served Akpoguma, who kept his cool and scored the final 1:1 (90.+1).
After the short winter break, Hoffenheim will play against Augsburg (15.30) on Saturday, 8 January. Mönchengladbach are already guests at FC Bayern (20.30) on Friday, 7 January.
