Arango stunner sets Foals on their way
Mönchengladbach - A stunning strike from Juan Arango and a Tony Jantschke effort sealed a 2-0 victory for Borussia Mönchengladbach at home to VfL Wolfsburg, taking Lucien Favre's side to ninth in the Bundesliga table.
Wolves lack bite
Wolfsburg enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, with Gladbach only choosing to close down their opponents in the final third, but after Alvaro Dominguez cleared Bas Dost's early header off the line, all it took was one chance for the hosts to go in front. Juan Arango's left foot did the damage once again as the Venezuelan allowed Havard Nordtveit's diagonal ball beyond the backline to come across his body before slamming an unstoppable first-time volley into the far corner.
The visitors were left reeling by the Foals' clinical counter, but soon began to find their way back into the encounter. Influential midfielder Diego gradually started to impose himself in the attacking third as he first forced Marc-Andre ter Stegen into an uncomfortable save from range, before curling a free-kick just past the post. However, just before half-time Borussia once again struck against the run of play as Tony Jantschke tucked home Nordtveit's corner at the back post to hand the hosts a comfortable lead at the break.
Gladbach came out in the second-half intent on wrapping up the win, and their direct approach in switching from defence to attack continued to cause Wolfsburg problems. Nordtveit and Lukas Rupp both stung the palms of Diego Benaglio with efforts from range, but after a strong opening to the period, the hosts soon took their foot off the pedal as they focused on keeping things tight at the back.
Wolfsburg struggled to find a way through Borussia's two banks of four, often settling for half-chances out of frustration. Rasmus Jönsson failed to make the most of Arango's poor clearance, before Bas Dost then hit the post from a tight angle. The Wolves were continually thwarted by Gladbach's disciplined defensive unit in the closing stages and a distinct lack of ideas from either side allowed the hosts to kill off the game, moving themselves into the top half of the table.
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