Andreas Christensen's brace hands Monchengladbach a 5-1 win over Bremen in Bundesliga
Borussia Monchengladbach have returned to winning ways after beating relegation-threatened Werder Bremen 5-1 thanks to a brace by defender Andreas Christensen at the opener of the 20th round in Bundesliga.
The "Foals" on Friday reaped their first win in 2016 to increase Bremen's relegation worries. The "Green-Whites" suffered the 11th loss of the football season and remain on a relegation play-off spot, reports Xinhua.
First Half: Monchengladbach strike early
Despite a two-game losing streak, Andre Schubert's men started highly motivated into the game to take the reins.
As a consequence, Monchengladbach grabbed a bright start into the encounter as Lars Stindl broke the deadlock with just 12 minutes played. The midfielder capitalised on Mahmoud Dahoud's solo run and Thorgan Hazard's square pass to the far post.
Bremen were shocked and unable to respond whereas the hosts kept it bowling to double the lead in the 31st minute through Andreas Christensen, who tapped home Dahoud's assist to mark his first Bundesliga goal.
The 2-0 deficit seemed to be a wake-up call for the visitors but neither Clemens Fritz nor Claudio Pizarro were able to make use of some promising opportunities in the closing period of the first half.
Half-time: Monchengladbach 2-0 Bremen
Second Half: Christensen completes his brace
After the restart, Monchengladbach caught Viktor Skripnik's men flat-footed as Christensen made it 3-0 on the scoreboard after heading home a corner to seal his brace five minutes into the second half.
Bremen had nothing to lose and turned up to reduce the arrears through veteran Claudio Pizarro, who converted a foul play penalty to mark his 182nd Bundesliga goal in 400 appearances in the 56th minute.
It was, however, a short-lived joy for the visitors as Raffael got his name on the scoreboard as well, after slotting home an awarded foul play penalty in the 70th minute. The 4-1 sealed the deal ahead of time, but Monchengladbach weren't done with the scoring, as Havard Nordtveit unleashed a late hammer to round off the 5-1 victory in the dying minutes of the game.
With the result, Monchengladbach returned onto the 4th place while Bremen stay in the drop zone with two points to safety for the moment.