BERLIN: Deniz Undav made it 11 goals in 12 Bundesliga matches as VfB Stuttgart cruised to a 3-0 victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday to climb to fourth.
The German Cup holders barely broke a sweat against a poor Gladbach side, who are on the slide having lost four of their past six games.
Stuttgart are only behind third-placed Hoffenheim, who have a game in hand, on goal difference.
Gladbach’s Haris Tabakovic missed an early penalty before Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling scored the opener.
After Joe Scally bundled the ball into his own net, substitute Undav sealed the match with a late strike.
Tabakovic’s limp penalty was easily stopped by Germany goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel with 13 minutes gone.
It was the Bosnian’s second missed spot-kick in three months.
Gladbach dropped their heads and Stuttgart pounced, Leweling dancing through the penalty area before blasting home on the half-hour mark.
Undav’s introduction in the 61st minute proved key as the ball bounced in off Scally’s back while he tried to mark the German international at a corner.
Undav then added one of his own with 23 minutes remaining, piloting a low shot into the bottom corner.
Earlier on Sunday, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko scored on his debut with second-tier Schalke in a 2-2 home draw with Kaiserslautern, helping his side maintain a two-point lead at the top of the table.
Signing from Fiorentina on Friday, the 39-year-old Dzeko came off the bench late on and scored with three minutes remaining to become the oldest goalscorer in Bundesliga 2 history.
In Saturday’s late match, Borussia Dortmund powered past hosts Union Berlin 3-0 to cut the gap to leaders Bayern Munich, while also tightening their hold on second place with their third straight league win.
Dortmund captain Emre Can converted his 10th-minute penalty after Serhou Guirassy was brought down, to put the visitors in the driving seat.
Nico Schlotterbeck then rose higher than all of his markers at the far post to head the ball into the top corner and double their lead in the 53rd.
Union rarely managed to get into the Dortmund box despite splitting possession with their opponents, and unsuccessfully tried their luck with long-range efforts.
Guirassy should have added another goal in the 83rd but instead fired over the bar from two metres out. Maximilian Beier made amends a minute later with a low shot to make sure of the three points.
The win lifted the Ruhr valley club to 42 points, eight behind Bayern, who suffered their first league defeat of the season when they conceded two late goals to slump to a shock 2-1 loss to visitors Augsburg in their Bavarian derby earlier on Saturday. Hoffenheim, with a game in hand, are third on 36.
Dortmund next host Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday for their final league-phase match and a shot at a spot for the knockout stage.
Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2026
