Danish defender Andreas Christensen scored twice as Borussia Moenchengladbach ended their losing streak with a 5-1 rout of Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Friday.
Lars Stindl put the hosts in front in the 12th minute after being picked out from the right by Thorgan Hazard.
Mahmoud Dahoud set up Christensen’s first Bundesliga goal in the 31st minute and the 19-year-old Dane claimed his second in the 50th, with a header from Raffael’s corner.
Photo: EPA
Claudio Pizarro pulled one back with a penalty six minutes later as Bremen put the home side under pressure.
Moenchengladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer prevented Fin Bartels from making it 3-2 in the 65th minute and Nico Elvedi then made a crucial clearance to deny Pizarro from the rebound.
Any hopes the visitors had of a comeback were dashed with 20 minutes to go when Raffael converted another penalty.
Photo: AP
Havard Nordtveit completed the scoring with a fine strike from distance in the 88th minute.
Moenchengladbach had started the year with two straight league defeats and had five defeats in their previous six competitive games.
“We clearly analyzed what needed working on, what needed to be done. We did it internally without going mad,” said Moenchengladbach coach Andre Schubert, whose side stayed fourth.
“We corrected a few things. We stayed compact and were aggressive going forward,” he said.
Werder Bremen remained in the relegation playoff place ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches.
“We’re in the middle of a relegation scrap. Everyone is compelled to defend the goal with everything they’ve got and we didn’t do that today,” Werder Bremen captain Clemens Fritz said.
Bremen were missing 10 players through injury or suspension. Hungarian midfielder Laszlo Kleinheisler made his first league start and Bremen reserve defender Leon Guwara was also named in the starting lineup for his Bundesliga debut.
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