Borussia Mönchengladbach have struggled to win on the road, and they would twice have the lead against VfL Wolfsburg, only to be pegged back on both occasions in an entertaining 2:2 draw at the Volkswagen Arena.
The teams
Wolves coach made three changes, one of which was enforced. The injured Admir Mehmedi was out of the squad, and Elvis Rexhbecaj and Matthias Giczek were on the bench. In their place were Yunus Malli, Renato Steffen and summer signing Wout Weghorst.
Up against his former team, Foals' coach Dieter Hecking made two changes, one of which was welcome news to every fan of the Rhineland club. Teenager Louis Bayer was left out alongside the rested Jonas Hofmann, with summer signing Michael Lang making his first start. The big news was the return of captain Lars Stindl, back after spending the entire summer recovering from injury.
Furious pace
The game set off at a furious pace, and inside seven minutes the visitors had taken the lead in fine style. Having scored his first home ground goal in the 3:1 win over Frankfurt in midweek, Frenchman Alessane Pléa scored a belter from fifteen yards that left Wolves 'keeper Koen Casteels with no chance.
The hero became the villain just five minutes later. When Pléa's pass didn't reach its intended target, Steffen seized on the Frenchman error, drilling a firm left-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to level the scores.
There was a flurry of chances before things slowly wound down towards half-time. Dutchman Weghorst thought he had put Bruno Labbadia's Wolfsburg back in front after 20 minutes, but was called back for an earlier foul. Pléa again went close at one end, and Steffen at the other.
Ding-dong battle
The second half started just like the first - with an early Gladbach goal. Swiftly charging up the pitch on the break after neutralising a Wolfsburg corner, midfield duo Christoph Kramer and Patrick Herrmann cracked open the opposition defence, and Belgian star Thorgan Hazard did the rest, rifling a shot into the top right-hand corner past Kasteels.
Gladbach were again looking good for that elusive win on the road, and could have even extended their advantage as Pléa had another good sight of goal (56.) Just three minutes later, they would pay for their profligacy. Taking advantage of another lapse in the Gladbach defence, Weghorst levelled the scores.
Bruno Labbadia's men looked more likely to score the winning goal as the game slowed down towards the end, and William spurned a decent opportunity nine minutes from time. The 2:2 result was probably fair though.
Result: VfL Wolfsburg 2 (Steffen 12., Weghorst 59.) Borussia Mönchengladbach 2 (Pléa 7., Hazard 48.)
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