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Akpoguma salvages a point against Gladbach
Personnel & tactics:
Head coach Sebastian Hoeness made six changes to the starting XI that drew 2-2 away to Bayer 04 Leverkusen in midweek. Stefan Posch played alongside Florian Grillitsch and Kevin Vogt in a back three in front of goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. Pavel Kadeřábek returned to the starting XI at right wing back, while David Raum kept his place on the left flank. Dennis Geiger and Angelo Steller also returned to the starting line-up and played in midfield alongside Andrej Kramarić, while the attacking duo of Munnas Dabbur and Georginio Rutter, who both came off the bench against Leverkusen, started in attack.
Ihlas Bebou replaced Dabbur up front at the interval. Christoph Baumgartner later came on for Stiller in the 62nd minute, before the scorer of the equaliser Kevin Akpoguma took Kadeřábek's place in the closing stages (87).
Moment of the match:
The 1-1: It seemed as though all of TSG's efforts had been in vain until they were eventually rewarded in the first minute of stoppage time when Kevin Akpoguma fired home a highly deserved leveller from close range after Ihlas Bebou had teed him up with a header.
Number of the game: 15
TSG had 15 corners and created multiple chances from them – but couldn't find the back of the net. Gladbach only had three corners and took the lead from one of them via Breel Embolo (12).
Line-ups:
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Posch, Grillitsch, Vogt – Kadeřábek (Akpoguma, 87), Geiger, Raum – Stiller (Baumgartner, 62), Kramarić – Rutter, Dabbur (Bebou, 46)
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Sommer – Lainer, Ginter, Bensebaini, Scally – Zakaria, Kramer – Herrmann, Stindl, Thuram (Netz, 73) – Embolo (Plea, 88)
Goals: 0-1 Embolo (35), 1-1 Akpoguma (90+1)
Match highlights
Rutter goes clean through after a long ball and has the chance to open the scoring, but Sommer is quick to get down and make the save. That should've been 1-0.
Vogt switches the play out to the right. Kadeřábek heads the ball to Rutter and receives it back, but his shot from a tight angle is kept out by Sommer.
And suddenly Gladbach almost lead: Stindl plays the ball through to Herrmann, who aims his shot from a wide position on the right of the box for the far corner but drags it wide of the back post.
Tough to take: TSG are playing superbly but have fallen behind. A Gladbach corner-kick somehow makes its way through to the back post, where the unmarked Embolo pokes it over the line from close range.
It's been one of those days so far: Rutter meets a Geiger corner-kick with a brilliant header, but Sommer gets down quickly to make the save. Moments later, Posch then heads over the bar from a promising position.
Close but no cigar. Three shots rain down on the Gladbach goal following a corner, but Sommer comes out on top against Rutter and Baumgartner.
Vogt plays a pass from a deeper position into the middle: Bebou heads the ball square to Akpoguma, who brings it down brilliantly and fires right-footed into the corner. A highly deserved equaliser.
Match facts and statistics »
