Werder Bremen 0-0 Borussia Monchengladbach: Missed opportunity for toothless Foals

Werder Bremen 0-0 Borussia Monchengladbach: Missed opportunity for toothless Foals

Toothless Borussia Monchengladbach missed the chance to go third in the Bundesliga as they were held to a goalless draw at relegation-threatened Werder Bremen.

Gladbach dropped out of the top four when they were beaten by Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday and they were unable to respond with three precious points behind closed doors at the Weserstadion three days later.

As Leverkusen were beaten at home by Wolfsburg, the Foals were unable to take full advantage in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Florian Neuhaus was Gladbach’s biggest threat, but Werder deserved at least a point and Davie Selke ought to have won it late on as they ended a seven-match home losing streak in the top flight.

A point for Marco Rose’s visitors moved them above Leverkusen into fourth with six games to play, while Werder – who beat Freiburg at the weekend – remain second-bottom with seven to play.

Neuhaus made a lively start, shooting straight at Jiri Pavlenka when he had his first sight of goal 11 minutes in, before Davy Klaassen called Yann Sommer into action at the other end.

Werder did not resemble a side battling to beat the drop, but Pavlenka had to be at full stretch diving to his left to deny the dangerous Neuhaus a magnificent solo goal as Gladbach raised the tempo.

There was little between the two sides and the alert Sommer kept out Milot Rashica’s free-kick early in the second half, then denied Klaassen following up.

Klaassen drilled over the crossbar soon with the breakthrough remaining elusive, and Josh Sargent failed to punish Sommer when the Gladbach goalkeeper got himself in a muddle.

Substitute Leonardo Bittencourt, who scored the winner against Freiburg, fired just over the bar, and Neuhaus curled just wide at the other end, before Sommer saved from Selke when he was played in with just a few minutes to go.

Not good enough to get all three points in Bremen #GladToBeBach #SVWBMG 0-0 pic.twitter.com/K4B25p2BGq

— Gladbach (@borussia_en) May 26, 2020

What does it mean? Gladbach have work to do, Werder look capable of great escape

Gladbach again fell short of the standards they set earlier in the season and must click back into gear if they are to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition.

All is most definitely not lost for Florian Kohfeldt’s Werder, who could have been celebrating back-to-back wins if they had shown more composure in front of goal. They sit five points adrift of 15th-placed Mainz.

Neuhaus a constant threat

Neuhaus was the standout player on the park, showing the sort of quality in the final third that was otherwise lacking.

The midfielder played with a swagger and deserved a goal for his performance, almost conjuring one up out of nothing in the first half that would have lived long in the memory.

A Plea for service

Alassane Plea has been a key man for Gladbach this season, but he was starved of service as the game passed him by

What’s next?

Gladbach host Union Berlin and are in need of a victory on Saturday, while Bremen travel to Schalke.