Borussia Monchengladbach ended its winless run of five games after goals from Nathan Ngoumou and Marcus Thuram helped the team edge an uninspired Wolfsburg 2-0 in the 27th round of Bundesliga.
The Wolves are still in the hunt for a berth in Europe and took the reins from kick-off as Foals goalkeeper Jonas Omlin had to be on guard to defuse Omar Marmoush's dangerous header in the fifth minute, reports Xinhua.
Marmoush remained in the thick of things and thought he had opened the scoring, but his opener was ruled offside by the video assistant referee ten minutes into the clash.Monchengladbach then shocked the visitors from Lower Saxony at the half-hour mark as Lars Stindl intercepted a poor pass from goalkeeper Koen Casteels and assisted Thuram, whose cutback pass allowed Ngoumou to break the deadlock against the flow of the game.
Wolfsburg nearly restored parity after the restart, but Omlin's diving save defused Mattias Svanberg's presentable effort in the 47th minute.Monchengladbach defended well and staged a clinical chance conversion at the other end of the pitch as Alassane Plea teed up for Thuram, who doubled the advantage to put the result beyond doubt at the hour mark.
"We dominated the first half and played a good game. A mistake led to a Monchengladbach's opener. After the second goal, I didn't see any response from my team," said Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac.
"It was a close game against a good opponent. The lead gave us more self-confidence. The points are good for us," said Borussia Monchengladbach coach Daniel Farke.
Elsewhere, Stuttgart clinched vital points in the relegation battle after overpowering Bochum 3-2, while Schalke slump to the last place after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Hoffenheim.