Despite the 10-week break since thrashing Borussia Dortmund 4-2 at Borussia Park in mid-November, Mönchengladbach initially showed no signs of rustiness early on and took the game to their Rhine rivals Bayer Leverkusen. Kouadio Koné’s long-range strike and Julian Weigl’s header, which went just over the crossbar, showed the Foals' willingness to get on the front foot in the opening 10 minutes.
But a Leverkusen side making big strides under Xabi Alonso, having won their previous three matches before the World Cup, soon came to life after riding the early Mönchengladbach advances. First, Adam Hložek was given space on the edge of the area to fire against the post and an alert Mitchel Bakker reacted first to tap into the net. Leverkusen continued to carve out the better chances and Jeremie Frimpong was denied by Foals’ debutant Jonas Omlin before Amine Adli outpaced Nico Elvedi and curled his first goal of the season into the bottom corner to double the visitor’s lead.
With their two-match winning run at home in jeopardy, Mönchengladbach wanted to respond quickly in the second half and Elvedi’s powerful close-range header was palmed away by Lukáš Hrádecký. As the Foals piled forward, Leverkusen took advantage and sealed consecutive away wins for the first time this season when Adli teed up Nadiem Amiri on the edge of the area and the midfielder struck low past Omlin.
In the closing stages, Lars Stindl drilled a low strike past a full stretch Hrádecký and struck a thunderous effort off the crossbar and in to give Mönchengladbach some late hope, but the efforts were in vain as the Foals struggled to create any further chances and fell to a sixth successive head-to-head defeat against Leverkusen. Alonso’s Leverkusen side, however, continues to go from strength to strength as victory takes them up to 9th place and seven points off the European qualification places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Amine Adli (Bayer Leverkusen)