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Lasogga brace keeps Gladbach pointless

Jonathan HardingSeptember 11, 2015

Borussia Mönchengladbach's woeful start to the season continued at the start of matchday four in the Bundesliga, as the hosts lost both the game and their captain. Hamburg surprised everyone, as usual.

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Bundesliga Borussia Mönchengladbach Hamburger SV Fußball Pierre-Michel Lasogga
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Martin Meissner

Gladbach 0-3 Hamburg
(Lasogga 11', 44', Müller 52')

Martin Stranzl failed to bring the confidence back to Gladbach as a Pierre-Michel Lasogga brace was enough to guide Hamburg towards three deserved points. Gladbach's winless streak now stretches to four games and was made worse when Stranzl, returning to the side after a five and a half month absence, suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone in the second half.

After an early nervous moment for Stranzl, the signs were there for Gladbach. The hosts failed to regroup and gifted Hamburg an early lead. Tony Jantschke left his back pass horrendously short and Lasogga pounced to round Yann Sommer and score.

Lucien Favre's charges were slow and uninspiring. Tony Jantschke hit a tame shot goalwards but Jaroslav Drobny, in for the injured Rene Adler, was not troubled. Shortly before the break, things got worse for Gladbach when Lasogga beat two defenders to power home a header from a corner.

Two goals down at the break left everyone expecting more from the home side in the second half. Six minutes in and the game was over when Nicolai Müller lofted a ball over the advancing Yann Sommer - the assist came from Drobny. Things got worse for Gladbach when Stranzl caught a flailing elbow to the face, but even before his injury Gladbach's hopes had been dashed.

Ibrahima Traore fired over from a free kick, but there wasn't even room for a consolation goal. Stranzl's injury is a real blow, especially ahead of their Champions League trip to Sevilla next week. Lucien Favre said both before and after the game that he knew this season was going to be hard, but even the Swiss head coach couldn't have predicted his Gladbach side would have set a club record for the worst start to a Bundesliga season.