23 September 2015
Two of the Bianconeri’s Group D rivals went into this evening’s fixtures winless in the league this season, and while Borussia Monchengladbach stopped the rot with a dramatic 4-2 win over Augsburg, Unai Emery’s Sevilla remain in the relegation zone as they lost 1-0 at Las Palmas.
Monchengladbach 4-2 Augsburg
Having parted company with manager Lucien Favre at the weekend after losing all of their opening five games, Borussia Monchengladbach got their campaign up and running with a buccaneering display in front of their home fans.
With caretaker boss Andre Schubert taking the Swiss’ place in the dugout, Juventus’ Group D rivals came roaring out of the blocks and put the match beyond their visitors in a whirlwind first 20 minutes.
Taking an early lead through American wing-back Fabian Johnson, the hosts didn’t look back. After Granit Xhaka nodded home a quick-fire second, two superb goals followed to kill off the game before it had even started.
Collecting the ball on the corner of the Augsburg box, Lars Stindl netted the goal of the game, curling a fine third into the top corner. Just over 100 seconds later, with 21 minutes on the clock, it was four as Mahmoud Dahoud fired home from the edge of the penalty area after a slick passing move.
But the scoring did not finish there as two second-half penalties from Paul Verhaegh dragged the visitors back into the tie in a frantic 90 minutes at Borussia Park. The hosts however saw the game out to seal an important first win of the season ahead of their Champions League meeting with Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Las Palmas 2-0 Sevilla
Meanwhile over in Spain, Sevilla slipped to their third reverse of the campaign, going down 2-0 away at fellow slow starters Las Palmas, who opened a three-point cushion between themselves and the drop zone.
In an even encounter of few clear goalscoring opportunities, Roque Mesa Quevedo’s strike on the half-hour mark put the home side in front going into the break.
Though the visitors pushed hard for a second-half equaliser, the game’s deciding goal went to the hosts as Antonin Alcaraz’s struck 14 minutes from time to condemn the Andalusians to a third defeat from five in La Liga.
Next up for Unai Emery’s side is the visit of Rayo Vallecano on Saturday evening before travelling to Turin four days later to face Massimiliano Allegri’s Bianconeri at Juventus Stadium.
