BERLIN: Borussia Moenchengladbach secured a narrow 2-1 win over Cologne on Wednesday in the first Bundesliga game to be played in front of empty stands due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Breel Embolo slotted in on 32 minutes and an own goal from Jorge Mere from an Embolo effort in the 70th doubled Gladbach’s lead in a ghostly atmosphere at their cavernous Borussia Park stadium that is normally pulsating with crowds of 55,000.

Cologne pulled a goal back in the 81st through Mark Uth to inject some tension into a game that obviously lacked in atmosphere.

“Everyone was a bit nervy,” Cologne coach Markus Gisdol said. “You can hear what the other bench is saying, what the referees are saying to each other.

Several thousand Gladbach fans had gathered outside the stadium and lit flares to celebrate.

“It [the support] gives us goosebumps. We know why we play football,” Gladbach midfielder Christoph Kramer, a 2014 World Cup winner, told Sky. “I think it’s great that so many people are gathering in the rain behind the grandstand. We’re happy to have such fans.”

The win lifted the Foals onto 49 points in fourth place, one behind third-placed RB Leipzig. Cologne are 10th.

The game had been rescheduled after it was originally postponed last month due to a storm warning.

Germany’s Bundesliga matches this weekend will all be played behind closed doors with federal states banning events with crowds of more than 1,000 in order to contain the spread of the virus.

Champions Bayern Munich are top on 55 points, four clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2020