Meager zero number at Borussia-Park

Winning streak broken, but at least an important point earned. Borussia Mönchengladbach had to settle for a 0-0 draw against second-placed RB Leipzig on Friday evening after four consecutive wins against the favored team from Saxony.

Leipzig, who have won four of their last five games, were only able to close the gap on FC Bayern Munich by one point and could yet drop to third place in the table. Gladbach moved up to eleventh place in the Bundesliga. 50,029 spectators at Borussia-Park saw a largely even encounter without any major highlights.

The match began with fan protests against the stricter security measures demanded by politicians. As in the stadiums last weekend, Borussia Park remained quiet for twelve minutes. The supporters demanded on banners: "No resolutions against our fan culture". Later, they chanted: "You are ruining our sport".

Polanski relies on tried-and-tested formation

After the end of the period of silence, the Gladbach players also woke up, presenting a focused, well-positioned and bold attacking display against the second-placed team in the table. Borussia's coach had relied on the last successful team and made no changes. As expected, the recovered attacking players Tim Kleindienst and Robin Hack remained on the bench.

Leipzig head coach Ole Werner had to make changes in central midfield due to the injury to young international Assan Ouedraogo. Xaver Schlager moved into the starting line-up in his place. Otherwise, the coach opted for the formation that had been successful recently.

Few chances on both sides

However, his team defended very deep against the dominant hosts and allowed few chances. Leipzig were always dangerous on the counter-attack and when the nimble Antonio Nusa was involved. A long-range shot from goalscorer Christoph Baumgartner (36 minutes) was the most dangerous goal up to that point. At the other end, Florian Neuhaus ensured an orderly attacking game in his 200th Bundesliga match, but scoring chances were in short supply in both penalty areas.

That changed after the break. However, Franck Honorat's goal after a beautiful attack via Neuhaus and Rocco Reitz was disallowed for offside. After that, the hosts cranked up their attacking play and created some good scenes. In the end, the visitors had a reliable goalkeeper in Peter Gulacsi, who was on the ball at the crucial moment and held on to the point for his team. It was unlucky for Leipzig that RB captain David Raum (80th) only hit the crossbar and post with his shot.