Hamburg SV’s Pierre-Michel Lasogga scored a double in a 3-0 win that condemned Borussia Moenchengladbach to a fourth straight Bundesliga defeat on Friday just days before their Champions League group opener against Sevilla.
The 23-year-old Lasogga opened after 11 minutes and added his second just before the break with Nicolai Mueller getting a third on 52 minutes to give Hamburg their second win of the season to move provisionally to seventh.
Tailenders Moenchengladbach, struggling without injured midfield duo Patrick Herrmann and Granit Xhaka, have gotten off to their worst-ever start to the season just three months after their third-place finish.
Photo: AFP
“I said from the outset that it would be a very difficult season and the injuries haven’t helped,” said coach Lucien Favre, who insisted the Bundesliga campaign was “more important than the Champions League.”
The former five-time German champions, beaten at home for the first time by Hamburg since December 2010, have already conceded 11 goals in four games — one more than in 13 games last season.
Hamburg were gifted the first goal following a sloppy clearance by Moenchengladbach defender Martin Stranzl as Lasogga won a duel with goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
Lasogga doubled his account a minute before the break, heading in an Ivo Ilicevic corner.
Seven minutes after the break, the visitors sealed victory following a long clearance by goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny that was picked up by Mueller who lobbed over the outrushing Sommer.
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