Yunus Malli sparkles as Wolfsburg beat Gladbach

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Wolfsburg earned just their second home win of the season on Matchday 14 thanks to a comprehensive 3-0 triumph over Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Wolfsburg 3-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Goals: 1-0 Malli (4'), 2-0 Didavi (25'), 3-0 Guilavogui (71')

The hosts got off to the perfect start when Mario Gomez wriggled free on the right and picked out Yunus Malli at the back post to opening the scoring after just four minutes. The Wolves continued to play well and doubled their advantage when Malli turned provider, teeing up Daniel Didavi to score with a delightful dink over Yann Sommer. Gladbach took a while to recover from the setback but looked increasingly dangerous as the half wore on, and even had the ball in the net twice, only for their efforts to be ruled out for offside on each occasion.

The visitors started well after the interval as they sought to gain a foothold in the game, but clear chances were hard to come by against a defence expertly marshalled by John Brooks. Just when it looked like Gladbach's pressure might take its toll, Josuha Guilavogui all but sealed the points for Martin Schmidt's side with a long-range strike that flew into the net via a deflection. The result lifts Wolfsburg up to 14th, while Gladbach stay in fourth.

Match stats

    Malli scored with the game's first shot on goal.Felix Uduokhai started a game for Wolfsburg for the first time since Matchday 10. The Wolves had previously never won a league game he had started (seven draws, two defeats).Didavi now has five league goals this season, meaning he has one more than he managed in the entirety of the 2016/17 campaign.Guilavogui has two Bundesliga goals this term, a personal best for him in a single season.Wolfsburg celebrated their first Bundesliga win under Martin Schmidt on Matchday 12 against Freiburg, before suffering a first defeat the following game at Augsburg.Gladbach are the latest of the last nine teams that have beaten Bayern to fail to win their following Bundesliga match (D2, L6).This was the first time the Wolves have won back-to-back games at the Volkswagen Arena in 2017. Hecking was in charge at Wolfsburg from December 2012 to October 2016, leading the Wolves to second in the Bundesliga and to their only DFB Cup triumph in 2015. They also reached the knock-out stage of the UEFA Champions League, beating Real Madrid 2-0 at home in the 2015/16 quarter final.

Line-ups

Wolfsburg: Casteels - Verhaegh, Brooks, Uduokhai, Itter (William 63') - Guilavogui, Didavi (Ntep 72'), Gerhardt - Origi, Gomez (c), Malli
Substitutes: Grün, William, Bazoer, Ntep, Dimata, Osimhen, Knoche
Absentees: Jung (ankle), Arnold (suspended), Blaszczykowski (back), Camacho (ankle), Tisserand (injured)
Coach: Martin Schmidt

Gladbach: Sommer - Elvedi, Jantschke (Cuisance 31'), Vestergaard, Wendt - Hazard (Drmic 83'), Ginter, Zakaria, Grifo - Stindl (c), Raffael (Bobadilla 83')
Substitutes: Sippel, Oxford, Drmic, Johnson, Villalba, Bobadilla, Cuisance
Absentees: Kramer (head), Strobl (knee ligaments), Traore (thigh), Herrmann (thigh), Hofmann (knee ligaments), Benes (broken foot)
Coach: Dieter Hecking

Watch: Divock Origi on Wolfsburg "winning at any cost"

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