Gladbach resurgence gathering pace

Not only did the 3-1 win give Borussia local bragging rights over the Billy Goats, it also offered them a modicum of breathing space over the Bundesliga’s relegation places for the first time since Matchday 3.

Having propped up the table at the beginning of November, the Foals head into the latest international break two points and four places above the relegation play-off position, doubling their points tally for the whole campaign thanks to their results in the last two matchdays. As such, some of the pressure that had been mounting on Eugen Polanski’s players has been relieved.

Watch: Have Gladbach turned a corner?

“The last few months have been tough for us,” said Kevin Diks, who became the first Indonesian player to score in the Bundesliga after doubling his side’s lead against Cologne from the penalty spot. “But this win feels that much sweeter because of it.”

Saturday’s triumph was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggests, though. Cologne enjoyed 60 percent of possession, mustered 17 shots at Moritz Nicolas’ goal, struck the woodwork through Jakub Kamiński and had a magnificent Luca Waldschmidt strike ruled out for offside.

Having managed to keep their opponents at bay in the first half, Gladbach appeared to have missed the chance to take a slender lead into half-time when Haris Tabaković’s penalty was saved by Marvin Schwäbe.

The striker needed just 50 seconds to make amends, however, teeing up Philipp Sander to smash the hosts in front and swing the pendulum in the Foals’ favour on the stroke of the interval.

“It was really important for us to find an immediate response after my missed penalty and take the lead with our next attack,” Tabaković said. “Our game plan worked perfectly in the end.

“We tried not to let them press us too high up the pitch and stayed compact to restrict their space. We managed to switch the play time and time again and catch them on the counter-attack.”

Three minutes after Diks’ penalty had given the hosts a two-goal cushion, Tabaković tapped home Gladbach’s third to all but end Cologne’s hopes of a comeback, with Waldschmidt’s late effort proving little more than a consolation.

The 31-year-old hailed the victory as a “great team performance“, but his most fulsome praise was reserved for interim boss Polanski, who is steering the Gladbach ship into calmer waters following an unenviable run of fixtures at the start of his tenure.

After picking up only two points from games against Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg, Union Berlin and leaders Bayern Munich, Polanski’s side returned to winning ways with a 4-0 win over St. Pauli last weekend before building on that success against their fiercest rivals. Add in the 3-1 triumph over Karlsruhe in the DFB Cup second round, and all of a sudden Gladbach are on something of a winning streak.

Watch: St. Pauli 0-4 Gladbach - highlights

Tabaković, though, says the seeds of revival were sown by Polanski much earlier. “He instilled this mentality in us right from the start,” he said of the former Poland midfielder, who made 54 appearances for the club in all competitions between 2004 and 2008.

“He took control immediately and brought calmness to the dressing room. He has a clear idea of how he wants to play football. He is the face of Borussia Mönchengladbach – he’s a legend here. That’s great for us.”

After initially experimenting and looking for a solution to Gladbach’s problems following his appointment, Polanski has settled on a formula that is producing results. The opening eight matchdays of the season saw Borussia concede 2.3 goals per game on average, but they have shipped just once in their previous two outings, in part thanks to the boss’ decision to switch from a back four to a back three with wing-backs.

That formation change has seen midfielder Philipp Sander drop into a central defensive position, where he has flourished, even scoring against Cologne. And, while a more defensive approach has seen Gladbach's possessional average drop - they have seen just 46 percent of the ball, with only Union Berlin and Heidenheim having less - they have become far more solid as a result.

Of course, to win games, you need to be efficient at the other end of the pitch, and Franck Honorat’s deployment as a second striker has given Gladbach an additional offensive edge. Usually a right winger, he is the perfect foil to Tabaković's target man role, as his 28 sprints against the Billy Goats suggest.

And in Tabaković, Polanski has a centre-forward who has the ability to provide a regular stream of goals. After all, only Harry Kane has more Bundesliga strikes (13) to his name this term than the Bosnia & Herzegovina international’s six. 

Three of those have come in the last two games, during which Gladbach as a whole have scored seven - for context, they managed just six goals in the opening eight league matches.

Despite all of this, Polanski was particularly modest in his assessment of his team’s recent upturn in fortunes following the win over Cologne, although he was quick to praise the increased teamwork rather than individual quality.

“The lads have done really well,” he said. “Every player is putting in the required effort, which means we are winning a lot of balls and defending our own goal very well. We’re also creating some very good counter-attacking opportunities. To win the derby is great for [the players] – and for me too.”

Watch: Mönchengladbach city and stadium tour

Some may argue that the international break has come at the wrong time for the ever-improving Foals.

But with a visit to bottom-of-the-table Heidenheim up next, Borussia will be quietly confident of making it four wins on the spin in all competitions when the Bundesliga resumes later this month.

“We’ve laid a good foundation and are in good form,” added Polanski. “We want to pick up where we left off after the international break.”