Berlin, Dec 1 (IANS) Wolfsburg remained in touching distance of league leaders Bayern Munich thanks to Robin Knoche’s winner against Monchengladbach while Frankfurt’s 2-0 win increased Dortmund’s woes at the closer of the 13th round of the German Bundesliga.
Knoche’s 1-0 winner against Monchengladbach Sunday consolidated Wolfsburg’s second place in the standings by establishing a three-point gap to third placed Bayer Leverkusen. Monchengladbach suffered their third straight loss and slumped to fifth place, reports Xinhua.
The hosts caught the best possible start on home soil as the “Wolves” clinically broke the deadlock with their first chance.
Monchengladbach’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer was unable to intercept Marcel Schaefer’s cross into the box leaving Knoche with just a tap in from close range in the 12th minute.
Thanks to Wolfsburg’s well-positioned defence, Monchengladbach had to wait until the 18th minute to create their first real chance as Roel Brouwers tested goalkeeper Diego Benaglio with a free kick.
“Wolves” goalkeeper Benaglio was again in the thick of things when he denied Patrick Herrmann the equaliser with 30 minutes into the game.
After the restart the Monchengladbach still lacked the ideas to overcome Wolfsburg’ s bulwark, meanwhile the hosts were unable to seal the game with the second goal as neither Ivan Perisic nor Ivica Olic got their names on the scoreboards.
Wolfsburg in the end held on for their eighth win of the season to sit seven points adrift of front runner Bayern while Monchengladbach suffered their third defeat.
Elsewhere, Frankfurt worsened Dortmund’s situation as their 2-0 win put Juergen Klopp’s men in last place of the standings.
Frankfurt caught a bright start on the road as Marco Russ assisted Alexander Meier with a through ball following a turnover. Meier utilised the chance and nutmegged Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller from 10 metres at the fifth minute.
Dortmund responded with furious attacks but Frankfurt goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald was on hand to repel them.
The hosts pressed frenetically but all their efforts remained unrewarded as Frankfurt’s Haris Seferovic capitalised on a moment of madness by Dortmund’s Matthias Ginter to poke home for a 2-0 lead in the 78th minute.
Dortmund suffered the eighth loss of the season to slump to the last place while Frankfurt jump from the 12th to ninth.