The highlights from the second half:
48th minute: Rashica almost gets the second half off to a bang! He strikes the ball on the half volley from 20 yards out but Sommer manages to get a hand to it and push it over the bar.
52nd minute: Penalty for Werder! Awarded by VAR! Bensebaini steps on Osako’s foot within the penalty area – Stieler gets the hint from VAR and points to the spot.
53rd minute: Davy Klaassen misses! The captain hits it hard, but it goes straight down the middle. Sommer already chose to dive left, but manages to block the ball with his legs and keep it out.
56th minute: Gladbach go down the other end and almost score two more goals of their own, but Pavlenka manages to stop both Thuram and Plea.
59th minute: Goal for Gladbach. Patrick Hermann. 3-0. Werder lose the ball carelessly in midfield. Zakaria plays the ball through to Herrmann who beats Friedl with ease before cutting inside and finishing into the far corner.
87th minute: Second yellow for Ramy Bensebaini. Gladbach are down to ten after Bensebaini is given his second booking of the afternoon for an unnecessary slide tackle on Bittencourt.
90th minute + 3: Goal for Werder. 3-1. Leonardo Bittencourt. Too little, too late for the visitors. The newly substituted Goller launches a quick counter attack, before Rashica lays it off for Bittencourt to cut inside and finish magnificently into the bottom left corner.
90th minute + 4: The final whistle blows in Mönchengladbach.
Match summary: The match didn’t take long to get going, with both sides having great chances within the first 180 seconds. The visitors set up in a back three of Veljkovic, Langkamp and Friedl. The hosts were filled with confidence and attempted to press SVW into making mistakes. However, once again Florian Kohfeldt’s side were beaten by a set piece. It was largely an end to end affair, with Werder creating lots of chances of their own but just missing that cutting edge in the final third. Hermann’s second goal of the game put the game to bed and made it a relatively routine end to the game for the league leaders.
