'The penalty was unnecessary' - Hoffenheim star Akpoguma rues late loss to Borussia Monchengladbach

TSG Hoffenheim central defender Kevin Akpoguma has admitted that his side conceded unnecessary goals during their 2-1 defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach in a German Bundesliga match held at Stadion im Borussia-Park on Saturday.

After a goalless first half, Alassane Plea dusted himself down and converted the penalty awarded after he was fouled in the area by Ozan Kabak in the 58th minute but Wout Weghorst levelled the scores for Hoffenheim only two minutes later.

Borussia Mönchengladbach netted what proved to be the the winning goal in the 80th minute when Nathan Ngoumou finished off a brilliant attacking move.

Akpoguma was disappointed to see Hoffenheim suffer their first defeat in seven away games in the Bundesliga this season and blamed lack of concentration for the loss. 

To make matters worse, the Nigeria international won't be able to help Hoffenheim in their next league game at home to VfL Bochum on Friday, December 8 due to accumulated bookings, having received his fifth caution of the campaign in the 88th minute. 

Speaking post-match, Akpoguma told TSG Hoffenheim's official website: "It’s an unnecessary defeat. We played a better game today than we did against Mainz.

"But we weren't consistent enough in the details; especially in the first half, we repeatedly missed the final step when crossing in - we had this situation several times.

"The penalty was unnecessary and the second goal conceded was also too easy. It's very unfortunate that we lose here.

"We have to be more consistent in the crucial moments in the next games. I don't really care about the place in the table at the moment, we have to look at our performance. That's the most important.

"The team is focused on doing things the way the coach wants them to. We haven't scored as many points in the last few weeks as we would like. If we perform as well as we can, we will get points again."

Akpoguma has a tough task on his hands in making Nigeria's squad list for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, given that he has not been called up for the last five games played by the national team.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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