Berlin
Borussia Moenchengladbach routed Union Berlin 4-1 on Sunday to go third in the Bundesliga with French striker Marcus Thuram scoring twice and taking a knee in protest at the death of an unarmed black man in the United States.
“Marcus has made the point. He has set an example against racism that we all support,” Gladbach coach Marco Rose said of Thuram’s protest.
First-half goals by midfielder Florian Neuhaus, who bagged Gladbach’s 3,000th goal in the Bundesliga, and Thuram put Gladbach 2-0 up at the break when he headed home unmarked at the far post.
The 22-year-old French striker then took a knee on the Borussia Park turf, imitating NFL star Colin Kaepernick.
“No explanation needed,” wrote Borussia Moenchengladbach on the club’s official Twitter account.
It was the latest show of Bundesliga solidarity with the current protests sweeping the United States.
Schalke’s US midfielder Weston McKennie wore an armband in Saturday’s defeat to Werder Bremen bearing the words “Justice for George”.
George Floyd, 46, died in Minneapolis during an arrest by a police officer who pinned him to the ground for several minutes by kneeling on his neck.
Just after the break in Gladbach, Union’s Swedish striker Sebastian Andersson pulled one back after being left unmarked.
Gladbach pulled away when Thuram added his second after pressing the Union defence. Alassane Plea then grabbed a goal of his own for Gladbach, having set up Thuram’s first, when he fired home off his left foot to make it 4-1 on 81 minutes when he beat Union goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz.
After the final whistle, the Gladbach squad celebrated in front of terraces filled with cardboard figures of fans.
There were 15,000 cut-outs on the terraces at Borussia Park with home supporters paying 19 euros ($21) each to have their image at the game as fans remain shut out to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
After a 3-1 defeat to Leverkusen last weekend, and a goalless draw with relegation-threatened Werder Bremen on Tuesday, this was an important win for Gladbach.
It lifted them to third in the table, but RB Leipzig can take their place if they win at Cologne on Monday.
On Saturday, reigning champions Bayern Munich opened a 10-point lead with a 5-0 thrashing of Fortuna Duesseldorf with the league’s top-scorer Robert Lewandowski netting twice.
Later Sunday, second-placed Borussia Dortmund can trim Bayern’s lead if they win at bottom side Paderborn.
La Liga resumes on June 11 after a three-month absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have been unable to pull away from each other at the top of the table while Atletico Madrid are involved in what looks like a four-way fight for Champions League qualification.
When Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 1, it seemed they had halted a dip in form and seized control of the title race.
But a week later, they handed the initiative back as Barca regained first place by beating Real Sociedad and Madrid lost away at Real Betis.
A three-month break means a fresh start but Barcelona’s two-point lead reflects badly on their challengers, given Barca’s own problems off the pitch, including the switch to Quique Setien as coach in January.
Both sides’ imperfections mean there will be more slip-ups to come but if this Barca make it five league titles in six years, Madrid will only have themselves to blame.
Real Madrid have been given permission by La Liga to play their remaining home games at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium at their training ground to allow planned construction work to go ahead at the Santiago Bernabeu this summer.
With games being held behind closed doors there would have been little advantage to playing at their usual home and the players might even be better off avoiding an empty 81,000-seater stadium that they are used to being almost full.—AP