Gladbach battle back from the brink to beat Leverkusen

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Borussia Mönchengladbach hit back from two goals down to win a thrilling Rhine derby against Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the BayArena.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Goals: 1-0 Tah (31'), 2-0 Chicharito (34'), 2-1 Stindl (53'), 2-2 Stindl (58'), 2-3 Raffael (71')

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Leverkusen flew out of the traps and should have been ahead inside the opening minute, but Chile international midfielder Charles Aranguiz sent his free header wide. Gladbach threatened momentarily as Mahmoud Dahoud tested Bernd Leno, before Jonathan Tah powered in a Hakan Calhanoglu corner to give the hosts the lead. Leverkusen doubled up little over two minutes later, with Karim Bellarabi flicking another teasing Calhanoglu corner into the path of Chicharito, who made no mistake from close range.

Bayer looked to be cruising to victory, but Gladbach are made of sterner stuff under Dieter Hecking and hauled themselves back into the contest courtesy of two quick-fire goals from Lars Stindl. Now it was Leverkusen's turn to be on the ropes, and the knock-out blow was landed with 19 minutes to go when Raffael capitalised on some uncertain defending to skin Tah and complete the most dramatic of turnarounds.

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- © gettyimages / Maja Hitij

Talking point

The first win of the Hecking era puts seven points between Gladbach and the bottom three. Could it be the turning point in their hitherto faltering campaign?

Match stats

    Chicharito scored his first Bundesliga goal since Matchday 6.Tah's first Bundesliga goal came in his 60th top-flight appearance.Stindl scored his first Bundesliga brace since May 2015, and his first in a Gladbach shirt.

Line-ups

Leverkusen: Leno - Henrichs (Jedvaj 66'), Toprak (c), Tah, Wendell - Aranguiz (Havertz 66'), Kampl - Bellarabi (Kießling 77'), Calhanoglu - Brandt - Chicharito

Coach: Roger Schmidt

Gladbach: Sommer - Jantschke, Christensen, Vestergaard, Wendt - Kramer, Dahoud - Hofmann (Drmic 89'), Hazard (Hahn 70') - Stindl (c) - Raffael (Johnson 85')

Coach: Dieter Hecking

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