Hoffenheim fight back for 3-2 win over Gladbach

The aim of the game was clear for 1899: take the three points and jump into fourth place. It had been four matches since the, then 8th placed team, had won a match, despite putting in a fantastic performance against Mainz 05 just before the international break. It even lead to praise from Rangnick's counterpart Michael Frontzeck, the Gladbach trainer, when he was quoted before the match as describing 1899 as, "A challenging opponent with a lot of individual quality".

Enforced changes for 1899
One of the players who highlighted his quality over the international break was Gylfi Sigurdsson, but unfortunately he couldn't shake of a minor injury, which meant he was unable to feature against Gladbach. Aside from Sigurdsson, Josip Simunic and Prince Tagoe were both unavailable, which meant that Rangnick had to make a slight change to his preferred line-up. With Simunic out due to suspension, Marvin Compper took his place alongside Isaac Vorsah in the centre of defence, with Andreas Ibertsberger slotting in at left-back and captain Beck on the right. Luiz Gustavo, Sejad Salihovic and Sebastian Rudy completed the three-man midfield, while Vedad Ibisevic, Demba Ba and Peniel Mlapa were on the goal hunt as the attacking unit in the 4-3-3 formation.

Bobadilla strike puts a spanner in the works
Hoffenheim were determined to get off to a good start and really took the game to the visitors. Ralf Rangnick had demanded balance in his teams' performance, whilst asking them to remain compact from front to back. The game plan seemed to be working in the first ten minutes with the home team dominating the opening exchanges. Chances fell to Mlapa (3.), Rudy (5.) and again Mlapa on the 9th minute when he wasted a golden opportunity having been put through one-on-one with Logan Bailly. Then in the 13th minute all of 1899's good work came undone when a long ball from inside Gladbach's own half caught the Hoffenheim defence off guard. Reus knocked the ball down for Bobadilla, who then sent an elegant chip over the head of goalkeeper Tom Starke to give the "foals" a surprising lead. The goal truly threw a spanner in the works for the men from Kraichgau and they were unable to recover before half-time.

Rangnick's rallying cry
Rangnick decided a change was needed during the break and brought on youngster Boris Vukcevic in place of Ibisevic for the second half. The change paid off immediately for the home side. Vukcevic headed into the path of Mlapa, who left Gladbach captain Filip Daems for dead before squaring the ball to Demba Ba to tap in the equaliser in the 46th minute. Hoffenheim were a completely different team and they almost took the lead when captain Andreas Beck saw his effort cannon off the underside of the crossbar. Unfortunately for Hoffenheim it didn't cross the line and instead was cleared to safety. Then, just as Borussia tried to find their feet again, a moment of stupidity saw Juan Arango receive his marching orders in the 62nd minute. Having been fouled by Salihovic, the Venezuelan international decided to exact his own revenge by stamping on the Bosnian, leaving referee Michael Weiner with no choice but to show him the red card. It turned out to be a turning point in the game as 1899 took the leads just a few minutes later, when Salihovic whipped a corner onto the head of Ba, giving the home side a 2-1 lead in the 67th minute.

Gladbach's misery was compounded even further in the 81st minute, as they were reduced to nine-men when Sebastian Schachten brought down Demba Ba inside his own penalty area. Salihovic converted the subsequent penalty to make it 3-1 on the night. There were some emotional scenes in the closing stages for Hoffenheim as the fans rose as one to applaud the return of Matthias Jaissle, who had been battling with a long-term injury for the past 18 months. Chinedu Obasi also made his return to action, following a stress fracture in his shin that had kept him sidelined since the World Cup in South Africa. Even Idrissou's goal in stoppage time couldn't put a damper on the atmosphere inside the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, as it served as nothing more than a consolation goal for the visitors.

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