Monchengladbach, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Monchengladbach strengthened its hold on a top-three place in the Bundesliga on Saturday with a 3-0 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen that moves the club into second place.
Max Kruse, Patrick Herrmann and Ibrahima Traore each scored in the second half for the home side, which can lock up an automatic Champions League berth with one win from their final two games.
Leverkusen is assured of at least fourth place, but the loss means the club is likely to finish in fourth and have to go through the qualification round in the Champions League.
Monchengladbach started well and Kruse tested Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno with a shot that the goalkeeper tipped over the crossbar.
Leno then produced a double save on Herrmann to keep his side level at halftime.
However, the hosts finally found the breakthrough when Herrmann was released in behind the Leverkusen defense, allowing him to square the ball to Kruse for a simple finish.
Raffael should have added to the lead after another nice set up from Herrmann but he scuffed his shot wide.
The hosts still led by just one goal as the game entered the final 10 minutes, but Herrmann settled some nerves when he scored on the rebound after Leno parried Christoph Kramer's shot.
Traore wrapped up the points a few minutes from time with a curling effort that managed to beat Leno, moving Monchengladbach one point clear of third- place Wolfsburg.
Champions Bayern Munich lost 1-0 at home to Augsburg, which got a 71st-minute goal from Raul Bobadilla, while Borussia Dortmund's Europa League hopes got a boost with a 2-0 victory over Hertha Berlin courtesy of goals from Neven Subotic and Eric Durm.
Eintracht scored three times in the first 35 minutes to top Hoffenheim, 3-1, Hannover and Werder Bremen battled to a 1-1 draw, and last-place Stuttgart moved to within one point of safety after beating Mainz, 2-0, with goals from Daniel Didavi and Filip Kostic.
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