MOENCHENGLADBACH: Borussia Moenchengladbach defeated VfL Bochum 2-1 with goals from Alassane Plea and Jonas Hofmann on Sunday to notch their first league win in three matches, four days after their stunning German Cup victory over Bayern Munich.

Brimming with confidence after their sensational 5-0 second-round win over the Bavarians in midweek, the Foals struck twice in the first half to ensure their first league win since Oct 2 and first over Bochum in the Bundesliga in almost 25 years. They moved up to 10th on 14 points.

Plea powered in a header after 12 minutes and Germany international Hofmann doubled the lead five minutes before the break with a fine shot as Gladbach dominated.

Bochum staged a rally in the last 10 minutes, cutting the deficit with Danny Blum’s superb free kick in the 86th but they failed to score again and could not deny Gladbach their first Bundesliga victory over Bochum in their last 16 encounters, with their previous win dating back to 1997.

Augsburg claimed a much-needed win against VfB Stuttgart with goals to spare earlier, winning 4-1 to ease the pressure on coach Markus Weinzierl.

Weinzierl’s team came from behind after Chris Fuhrich’s early goal for Stuttgart as Augsburg claimed their second league win from 10 games.

Reece Oxford equalised with a header from a corner in the 30th, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw scored after another corner in the 53rd, and Florian Niederlechner made it 3-1 in the 72nd before Alfred Finnbogason completed the scoring in the 81st.

Augsburg remained in the relegation zone, one point behind Stuttgart.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2021