04.11.2018 17:59 h

Gladbach win pushes Bayern down to third in Bundesliga

Thorgan Hazard netted twice as Borussia Moenchengladbach climbed to second place in the Bundesliga table -- pushing Bayern Munich down to third -- after a 3-0 victory over Fortuna Duesseldorf on Sunday.

Defending champions Bayern drop one place after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Freiburg on Saturday, leaving Munich four points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund, who they face away in a crunch clash next Saturday.

Hazard, younger brother of Chelsea star Eden, has now scored seven goals in as many league games, as Gladbach bounced back from a shock 3-1 league defeat to Freiburg and 5-0 thumping in mid-week at home to Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup.

It was a deserved win as Hazard netted a penalty at the start of the second-half after winger Alassane Plea had his shot blocked by a stray Fortuna hand.

Soon after defender Tony Jantschke came on for his 200th Bundesliga appearance -- all for Gladbach -- the hosts celebrated their second goal thanks to some clinical defensive pressing.

When a long-range pass from Fortuna's Alfredo Morales went astray in his own half, Gladbach's attack pounced on the error.

The ball was moved quickly to create a four-on-two situation and midfielder Jonas Hofmann slotted home his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-0 on 67 minutes.

Hazard claimed his second goal when the Duesseldorf defence held back as he made a run towards goal, the Belgian's effort took a deflection, wrong-footing the Fortuna goalkeeper, to hit the net eight minutes from time.

This was Fortuna's sixth straight defeat to leave them joint bottom of the table with an identical record to Stuttgart.