Saïd El Mala seals Köln derby win as pointless Gladbach sink deeper
Borussia Mönchengladbach's chastening start to the Bundesliga season shows no sign of easing. A three-week break had offered new coach Alexander Blessin the chance to reset, and a derby against arch-rivals Köln was meant to sharpen focus. Instead, Blessin begins his reign exactly where his predecessors Eugen Polanski and, temporarily, Jan-Moritz Lichte left off — nursing wounds at the start of a long week after a 2-1 defeat that leaves Gladbach rooted to the bottom of the table and still without a point.
There is no respite, and few weeks are longer than the one that follows a derby loss. Blessin only met a host of key players in the days before the trip to Köln, while several others were unavailable: Franck Honorat was joined on the injury list by striker Tim Kleindienst and defender Ko Itakura. With little time to recover or reflect, Blessin must get his defenders in particular to absorb the “frontal instruction” of the defensive principles that kept his low-budget St Pauli competitive.
Small print behind the scoreline
Pointing to an Isak Johannesson wonder-strike and Saïd El Mala's winner as the difference would be to ignore the small print. This could have been worse for Gladbach, and perhaps would have been had Effzeh possessed the extra firepower their injured forwards Ragnar Ache and Thijs Dallinga would have provided.
Köln will not be entertaining any of their nemesis' hard-luck stories. Their absentee list even extended to their goat mascot, Hennes IX, quarantined in the city zoo because of an outbreak of avian flu. With key midfielder Ellyes Skhiri carried off on a stretcher in the first half, it does not look like getting much easier for them, either.
A hero fit for the occasion
What Köln had, though, was a hero fit for the occasion. The Germany international El Mala is a throwback to less polished times — a wild, untamed talent who excited, infuriated and eventually decided the game, as he often does. His status has changed since a summer move to Borussia Dortmund fell through: he became the first wearer of the club's No 10 shirt since Lukas Podolski and penned a contract extension.
“I've never been so fired up for a game,” he said after his winner, cutting inside from the left to put a right-footed shot into the far corner past Moritz Nicolas, his trademark move.
“I've had a bit of a rough patch these past few weeks,” El Mala added after his first goal since the opening day. “What sets me apart is that I don't give up and I keep going.”
He has all the hallmarks of a genuine star: talent, swagger and now the over-arching sense of responsibility that is impossible to hide. As a teenager he scored 13 times in 20 league starts last season, and now a full Germany international, he is embracing putting the team on his back.
A steep climb for Blessin
For Gladbach the sorrow is not just in the loss but in recognising they do not have an El Mala. They have lost plenty in recent years, most notably Marcus Thuram, Jonas Hofmann and Rocco Reitz. The poor running of the club is well documented, but now Blessin must take them up from the foot of the mountain — an even steeper peak with Union winning at last, against Elversberg — without too many stars of note.
The derby itself had earlier been overshadowed by disorder in the stands, with play briefly suspended amid reports of fireworks fired towards home sections and riot police surrounding the away supporters' block, as reported on 11 October.
Blessin may not be the coach Gladbach fans dreamed of, but in this era of reduced means, he is probably the right one for now.