Alassane Plea (L) of Moenchengladbach vies with Omar Mascarell of Schalke 04 during the Bundesliga match in Moenchengladbach, Germany, Aug. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Ulrich Hufnagel)
BERLIN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Borussia Monchengladbach and Schalke have shared the spoils following a goalless draw at the first round in the 2019/2020 Bundesliga season on Saturday.
The "Foals" were the more dominant side but the hosts were unable to make the most of their promising chances in the second half. Hence, Schalke wrapped up one point on the road.
Both sides staged a lively opening period but neither side was able to pose too much threat to the opponents.
It took 27 minutes before the spectators came to see the best chance of the first half when Guido Burgstaller's deep through ball found Benito Raman, who squandered the opportunity after missing the target with just goalkeeper Yann Sommer to beat.
After the restart, Monchengladbach came out stronger to reap two chances as Marcus Thuram tested goalie Alexander Nubel from close range before Alassane Plea was only able to rattle the left post from promising position in the 56th minute.
The two chances were a wakening call for the visitors as Sommer had to defuse Matija Nastasic's hammer on target just two minutes later.
Nevertheless, it were the hosts who produced the better chances yet they lacked in accuracy in their finish. Substitute Raffael reaped another good chance for the hosts' moments after his fielding but Nubel made a diving to keep the goalless draw.
"I think our performance was okay. We defended well in the first half although Schalke had one good chance. In the second half, we had a couple of chances but lacked in accuracy," Monchengladbach head coach Marco Rose said.
"I am satisfied our game today, especially in the first half. We were the better team in the first half while Monchengladbach took over after the restart. We are still far from being perfect," Schalke's head coach David Wagner said.
The following fixtures conclude the first round in Bundesliga on Sunday: Eintracht Frankfurt host Hoffenheim, and newly promoted Union Berlin encounter Leipzig.
