Borussia Monchengladbach climbed into the Bundesliga’s Champions League places on Sunday with a 5-0 hammering of Hertha Berlin as Andre Hahn scored his first goal since his horror injury.
Gladbach routed third-placed Hertha 4-1 in Berlin last October and again ran riot at Borussia Park as Thorgan Hazard scored twice with Germany winger Patrick Hermann and Ibrahima Traore joining Hahn on the scoresheet.
The result sees Gladbach climb from seventh to fourth and is now just three points behind Hertha with Andre Schubert’s team hunting a return to the Champions League next season with its highest league win for five years.
Gladbach took the lead when Hertha’s goalkeeper Rune Jarstein made a hash of his clearance kick on 14 minutes. Borussia’s Mahmoud Dahoud intercepted the ball and his pass found Hazard, who fired home.
Gladbach doubled its tally with an hour gone when Hahn marked his first start in five months with a superb individual effort. Having received the ball with his back to goal, Hahn made enough space to turn and hit the top left-hand corner.
It marked his sweet return to Gladbach’s starting line-up after a horror tackle by Schalke’s Johannes Geis left him with a fractured leg and torn knee ligament last October.
The floodgates opened in the last 15 minutes as Herrmannn finished a move he started with Hazard on 76 minutes before the Belgian claimed his second on 80 minutes.
With the Hertha defence in disarray, Ibrahima Traore replaced Hazard and scored two minutes after coming off the bench to claim Gladbach’s fifth.
On Saturday, second-placed Borussia Dortmund came from behind to seal a dramatic 3-2 win over Werder Bremen as super subs Shinji Kagawa and Adrian Ramos scored the host’s goals which confirms its Champions League place for next season.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute, chipping the Bremen goalkeeper in style for his 23rd goal of the season after Henrikh Mkhitaryan played him through.
The results:
Sunday: Borussia Monchengladbach 5 (Hazard 14, 80, Hahn 60, Herrmann 76, Traore 85) bt Hertha Berlin 0.
Saturday: Borussia Dortmund 3 (Aubameyang 53, Kagawa 77, Ramos 82) bt Werder Bremen 2 (Galvez 69, Junuzovic 75).
