Gladbach crush Dortmund 4-2 for second straight defeat

Borussia Monchengladbach fired four goals past hapless Borussia Dortmund for a 4-2 victory on Friday to leave their opponents in sixth place following their second straight league loss.

With the Bundesliga going into a prolonged winter break after this weekend for the World Cup in Qatar, Champions League club Dortmund end their year on a low, six points off leaders Bayern Munich, in action at Schalke 044 on Saturday.

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Gladbach, who have now won six of their eight home games so far, are in seventh place on 22 points, three behind Dortmund.

In a sumptuous five-goal first half, the hosts went into the break with a 3-2 lead.

Jonas Hofmann, fresh from his Germany World Cup squad inclusion, slotted in for the lead after four minutes before Julian Brandt, another World Cup-bound Germany international, drew the visitors level.

He picked up the ball with his back to the goal, turned quickly and volleyed in a superb equaliser.

Gladbach, however, scored twice more in a four-minute span through Ramy Bensebaini and Marcus Thuram to go 3-1 up. Dortmund pulled a goal back with Nico Schlotterbeck's volley on the rebound but the Ruhr valley club were badly leaking at the back.

Only a minute after the restart, Kouadio Kone was given too much time at the edge of the box and he threaded a low shot past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

Thuram should have added at least one more goal but he missed a string of golden chances as Dortmund faltered.