Borussia Monchengladbach 1 - 0 Koln - Gladbach grateful for Xhaka

Posted Sunday, February 15, 2015 by PA

Borussia Monchengladbach left it late to clinch their third 1-0 win of 2015 and take local bragging rights in the Rhineland derby against Cologne.

Granit Xhaka struck in second-half stoppage time to earn Lucien Favre's side victory as the Swiss coach marked four years in charge of the club in style.

Cologne defended for much of the 90 minutes, but their resistance was broken in the last few moments as they fell to a rare defeat on their travels, where they have picked up 16 of their 24 points this season.

Cologne coach Peter Stoger said on Friday that he would take a 0-0 draw in this local derby and the way his team lined up, it appeared that was exactly what they were looking for.

They were wanting to play Gladbach at their own game, defending in numbers before breaking when the opportunity presented itself.

That is precisely the way Schalke succeeded in getting the better of the Foals a week ago, but it appeared Favre's men were ready for it this time as they controlled possession almost uninterruptedly for the entire first half.

Patience was the key and they were showing plenty as they too waited for their chance to strike.

Patrick Herrmann provided it to Raffael in the 50th minute, but the Brazilian's shot was too close to Timo Horn to cause him any problems.

Gladbach continued to carve out chances with Max Kruse wasting the best when he only had Horn to beat before Xhaka's shot was punched over the crossbar by the Cologne custodian.

Cologne reinforced their defensive ranks by getting all but Anthony Ujah behind the ball, and then Slawomir Peszko replaced him to add another defensive player.

Gladbach's persistence ultimately paid off, but they had to wait until stoppage time before celebrating, with Xhaka rising to meet Thorgan Hazard's free-kick and head in the winner.