Hofmann haunts Dortmund in humbling hammering
The climb to the top of the Bundesliga became steeper still for Borussia Dortmund as Jonas Hofmann haunted his former club with a goal and two assists for Borussia Moenchengladbach in a 4-2 thrashing.
Both sides were coming off midweek defeats, Gladbach's to strugglng Bochum, but the hosts were right back on form on Saturday (AEDT), taking the lead after only four minutes as Hofmann started the party.
England star Jude Bellingham produced a brilliant assist for Julian Brandt to equalise on the volley, but parity was short-lived as Ramy Bensebaini headed in a Hofmann free-kick from the right to make it 2-1.
Marcus Thuram put daylight between the teams moments later when he raced on to Kouadio Kone’s pass and sprinted clear of the visiting defence before rounding Gregor Kobel to make it 3-1.
Nico Schlotterbeck pounced on a rebound after Jan Olschowsky had saved from Niklas Sule to drag Dortmund back once again, but within seconds of the restart, Kone made the most of Hoffman's second assist, drilling home a low drive from the edge of the box to make it 4-2.
Thuram should have put the game out of Dortmund’s reach shortly afterwards when he went one-on-one with Kobel again, only to miscue his shot and fire wide.
Anthony Modeste was denied at close range too as Dortmund tried in vain to get back again, a task that would have been even more difficult had Hofmann not seen another goal disallowed after a foul on Mats Hummels in the build-up.
Thuram again missed the target after getting through on goal once more, but by that stage Gladbach had done enough to seal the result, moving it to within three points of Dortmund and the top six.
