Borussia Monchengladbach remained on the coattails of the leading three clubs in the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win at Stuttgart.
Stuttgart now face the threat of relegation after latest defeat
Borussia Monchengladbach remained on the coattails of the leading three clubs in the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win at Stuttgart.
Mike Hanke gave them the lead, which they held until the second half, when Marco Reus and Igor de Camargo put the sheen on the win.
This victory put's Lucien Favre's team within a point of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, while Stuttgart fell to their fourth straight defeat.
Stuttgart are now just four points above the relegation zone and the pressure is beginning to mount on their coach Bruno Labbadia.
Debut
Vedad Ibisevic was given his debut in the Stuttgart attack, but it was Gladbach who drew first blood in the 31st minute.
Reus' inswinging free-kick was given the slightest of deflections by the head of Hanke, extending the ball's trajectory into the far corner of Sven Ulreich's goal.
Stuttgart responded well and finished the first half with Tamas Hajnal hitting the post.
The home side continued to push for an equaliser, but just like a week ago when they defeated Bayern Munich 3-1, Gladbach were deadly on the counter-attack.
Power
Reus put Patrick Hermann through, but he was denied by Ulreich, with Reus unable to get any power on the rebound to beat the Stuttgart goalkeeper.
The same pair then combined for Gladbach's second goal in the 81st minute as Hermann sent Reus clear and he provided a cool finish from the edge of the area as Ulreich sprinted from his line to meet him.
Just three minutes later, it was game, set and match as Reus fed Hermann to his right and his low cross provided De Camargo with an easy tap-in from two yards out.
