1. FC Köln fell to a 4:1 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday afternoon at Borussia-Park. Florian Kainz levelled from the spot before he was given a second yellow card following a challenge on Jonas Hofmann just before the break. Ramy Bensebaini stepped up and put Gladbach back in front. Lars Stindl doubled the advantage before Bensebaini doubled his tally. A late Denis Huseinbasic goal proved to be a consolation for FC, before Marcus Thuram scored Gladbach’s fifth.

Team news

Daniel Farke named the same starting line-up from the 5:1 loss against Werder Bremen last weekend.

Steffen Baumgart opted for seven alterations to the team that began the defeat to Partizan on Thursday evening. Kingsley Schindler, Nikola Soldo, Kristian Pedersen, Eric Martel, Denis Huseinbasic, Florian Dietz and Sargis Adamyan were replaced by Benno Schmitz, Timo Hübers, Jonas Hector, Ellyes Skhiri, Dejan Ljubicic, Linton Maina and Steffen Tigges.

Behind at the break

The game began with the intensity that a derby usually has. Chances were few and far between in the early stages with yellow cards for both Lars Stindl and Florian Kainz. Marvin Schwäbe was required to make the first meaningful save of the match after Marcus Thuram burst past two FC players, only for Schwäbe to make himself big and deny the French forward.

After a lull in the game, it was Gladbach who took the lead from a corner. Jonas Hofmann’s delivery saw Marvin Friedrich rise highest and he powered home a header into the top corner. The lead didn’t last long, however. A VAR check saw Sven Jablonski point to the spot and Florian Kainz made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Yann Sommer the wrong way to level the scores.

Things changed again moments later. Kainz caught Hofmann in the air with an elbow, with Jablonski also correctly pointing to the spot. He also produced a second yellow card for the Austrian. Ramy Bensebaini stepped up and produced a similar penalty to that of Kainz, restoring Gladbach’s lead in first-half added time.

Stindl and Bensebaini kill the game

The second-half began as the first ended, with a Gladbach goal. Lars Stindl took aim from 25 yards after Ondrej Duda lost the ball in the FC half and sent a thunderous drive into the bottom corner with Marvin Schwäbe helpless. From there, the hosts were able to control possession and the game. Thuram had two good chances to extend the lead further but failed to find the target.

Any hopes of an FC comeback were quashed in the 76th minute. Ramy Bensebaini was on hand to force home after Jonas Hofmann’s cutback left him facing an empty net. Denis Huseinbasic scored a late consolation after Stefan Lainer failed to clear, only for Thuram to add a fifth late on and seal the Derby Day spoils for Gladbach.

FC are in action midweek as Steffen Baumgart’s side make the trip to Belgrade for the fourth UEFA Europa Conference League group stage fixture against Partizan. Kick-off in Serbia is at 18:45 CEST.

Line-ups

Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-2-3-1): Sommer – Scally (Lainer 83‘), Friedrich, Elvedi, Bensebaini (Netz 83‘) – Weigl, Koné – Hofmann (Herrmann 83‘), Kramer (Sanches 78‘), Stindl (Plea 51‘) – Thuram.

1. FC Köln (4-1-3-2): Schwäbe – Schmitz (Huseinbasic 60‘), Kilian, Hübers, Hector – Skhiri – Ljubicic (Schindler 40‘), Duda (Adamyan 60‘), Kainz – Maina (Uth 75‘), Tigges (Dietz 60‘).

Goals: 1:0, Friedrich 27‘. 1:1, Kainz (PEN) 31‘. 2:1, Bensebaini (PEN) 45+2‘. 3:1, Stindl 47‘. 4:1, Bensebaini 76‘. 4:2, Huseinbasic 84’. 5:2, Thuram 90+1’.

Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen).

Booked: Stindl (7’), Bensebaini (38’), Skhiri (63’).

Sent-off: Kainz (45+1’).

Attendance: 54,042 (sold-out).