Florian Neuhaus, Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea all scored at home as Borussia Mönchengladbach beat Union Berlin 4-1, to stay on top of their hopes for qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
Thuram scored the second Mönchengladbach goal of the game just before half-time, burying his powerful header beyond Gikiewicz. This was with the help of Alassane Plea, who picked his fellow countryman up the far post with a cross.
Pluram, called by Bundesliga “The French Connection”, kicked in again. Plea crossed low this time for Thuram to return home his 10th campaign goal after Jonas Hofmann had dispossessed Grischa Prömel at the edge of the net.
The two-goal lead was thus restored just a few minutes after Union’s first and only goal.
Plea then scored a goal himself as he adapted well to grab on Ramy Bensebaini ‘s cross and divert it for Gladbach’s fourth beyond Gikiewicz and keep them in the top four group.
So, Pluram was responsible for three goals out of four in the match.
Neuhaus scored the remaining goal, which was the side’s first. He nearly opened the scoring with an audacious halfway line effort, catching Rafal Gikiewicz off his line. But, just in time, the Union goalkeeper scrambled back to tip the shot around the post.
However, the Gladbach midfielder netted a goal just a few moments later, skipping across the top of the penalty area past a number of Berlin defenders. His shot hit the inside of the post for his fourth of the season before rolling over the line.
On the other hand, Union created one of their party tricks soon after the break when Marcus Ingvartsen knocked down the free-kick of set-piece specialist Christopher Trimmel for top scorer Sebastian Andersson to head home.
The following are the line-ups of the match:
Gladbach: Sommer – Lainer, Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini (Wendt 90’) – Hofmann (Traore 82’), Neuhaus (Doucoure 90’) – Stindl (c) (Benes 82’) – Herrmann (Kramer 72’), Plea, Thuram
Union: Gikiewicz – Friedrich, Schlotterbeck, Subotic (Kroos 46’) – Trimmel (c), Gentner (Ujah 80’), Prömel, Lenz (Ryerson 60’ (Mees 65’)) – Ingvartsen (Malli 80’), Bülter – Andersson
