Joe Scally scores first Bundesliga goal as Borussia Mönchengladbach beat Wolfsburg
Joe Scally got his first Bundesliga goal - to go with early strikes for Breel Embolo and Jonas Hofmann - to round off a 3-1 win for Borussia Mönchengladbach away at Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg 1-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Goals: 0-1 Embolo (5’), 0-2 Hofmann (7’), 1-2 Waldschmidt (25’), 1-3 Scally (90'+5)
Red card: Lacroix (76’)
The Foals raced out of the blocks and needed only five minutes to take the lead. Denis Zakaria’s volley from the edge of the box after a free-kick went straight into the ground, but sat up perfectly for Embolo to pull out an overhead kick and finish from a couple of yards out. The lead was doubled just over 90 seconds later with Embolo again involved, winning the ball on the halfway line and sending Hofmann clear. Goalkeeper Koen Casteels rushed out but got nothing on the ball, leaving the Gladbach man an open goal to tap into. Wolfsburg eventually got going and hit back midway through the half. Ridle Baku’s shot from the left hit Dodi Lukebakio and Nico Elvedi in the box before popping up nicely for Luca Waldschmidt to get his first goal for the Wolves. Wout Weghorst was then only a couple of yards away from a possible equaliser shortly before the break, but couldn’t quite make it onto Lukabakio’s fizzed ball across the six-yard box.
Mark van Bommel reacted at half-time by sending on John Brooks and Jerome Roussillon to revert to his usual back line. And Wolfsburg really should’ve been level when Lukebakio found himself free in front of goal, but the Belgian only put his shot at Yann Sommer from a central position. Matthias Ginter later placed a header from a corner into the arms of Casteels. A short free-kick routine from Wolfsburg caused mayhem in the Borussia penalty area, but Josuha Guilavogui was unable to take advantage as he fired over. The comeback was made harder when Maxence Lacroix was shown a second yellow card as he gave away a penalty for sliding in on Embolo in the box, but Gladbach failed to take advantage when captain Lars Stindl’s spot-kick was saved by Casteels. It looked like Wolfsburg would be down to nine men when Roussillon was shown red for taking down Hofmann as last man, but referee Frank Willenborg saw the Frenchman had got the ball on second viewing at the pitchside monitor and reversed his decision. The 10-man Wolves threw everything they had in the closing minutes but to no avail as American defender Scally netted his first Bundesliga goal, running clear onto a Sommer clearance in the final minute of added time as Gladbach picked up their first points on the road this season.
Match stats
- Scally got the first goal of his senior career, putting away his ninth shot in his seventh Bundesliga appearance.
- The 18-year-old joins fellow teenager Gio Reyna among the Americans to score in Germany's top flight this season. He's the 33rd different USA player to net in the Bundesliga.
- Embolo’s goal was the earliest Gladbach have scored this season and also the earliest Wolfsburg had conceded.
- Hofmann’s four goals against Wolfsburg is more than against any other team. They’ve all come in his last four appearances against them.
- Gladbach claimed their first Bundesliga win in Wolfsburg since November 2003, ending a run of 16 visits without victory.
- Casteels saved a penalty kick for the 10th time in Bundesliga (from 34 he's faced). No other current Bundesliga goalkeeper has saved so many penalties.
Watch: Scally: "I want to keep scoring now!"
Line-ups
Wolfsburg: Casteels (c) - Mbabu, Lacroix, Bornauw (Brooks 46’), Gerhardt (Roussillon 46’) – Guilavogui (Ginczek 79’), Arnold – Baku (Philipp 79’), Waldschmidt, Lukebakio (L. Nmecha 66’) - Weghorst
Unused subs: Pervan, Vranckx, Steffen, F. Nmecha
Out: Bialek (knee), Otavio (ankle), Schlager (knee), William (knee)
Coach: Oliver Glasner
Gladbach: Sommer – Beyer, Ginter, Elvedi - Scally, Zakaria, Kone (Kramer 60’), Netz (Herrmann 58’) - Hofmann, Stindl (c) (Plea 82’) - Embolo
Unused subs: Sippel, Wolf, Benes, Jantschke, Neuhaus, Bennetts
Out: Bensebaini (groin), Doucoure (Achilles tendon), Lainer (ankle), Thuram (knee)
Coach: Adi Hütter
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