Gladbach hit Stuttgart for three

Borussia Monchengladbach kept pace with the leading three in the Bundesliga with an impressive 3-0 win at Stuttgart, who as a result tumble even further down the table on the back of their fourth straight league defeat. Mike Hanke gave the visitors the lead in the first half and Marco Reus and Igor de Camargo completed the scoring as Stuttgart fell apart in the second half. The win lifts Lucien Favre's side back to within a point of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke at the top of the table, keeping them on course for a place in the UEFA Champions League next season. Stuttgart, on the other hand, are now just four points above the relegation zone and the pressure is beginning to mount on coach Bruno Labbadia. Vedad Ibisevic was given his debut in the Stuttgart attack, but it was Gladbach who drew first blood in the 31st minute. Reus' inswinging free-kick was given the slightest of deflections by the head of Hanke, knocking the ball into the far corner of Sven Ulreich's goal. Stuttgart responded well and finished the first half with Tamas Hajnal hitting the post. The home side continued to push for an equaliser, but just like a week ago when they defeated Bayern Munich, Gladbach were deadly on the counter-attack. Reus put Patrick Hermann through, but he was denied by Ulreich, with Reus unable to get any power on the rebound to beat the Stuttgart goalkeeper. The same pair then combined for Gladbach's second goal in the 81st minute as Hermann sent Reus clear and he provided a cool finish from the edge of the area as Ulreich sprinted from his line to meet him. Just three minutes later, it was all over when Reus fed Hermann to his right and his low cross provided De Camargo with an easy tap-in from two yards out.