Jonas Hofmann hit the first hat-trick of his career on Sunday as Borussia Moenchengladbach went second in the Bundesliga with a 4-0 thrashing of his former club Mainz.

After their stunning 3-0 win at defending champions Bayern Munich three weeks ago, this was another big statement from Dieter Hecking and his side, who moved up into second place behind Borussia Dortmund. Gladbach's victory leaves Bayern fourth in the table despite Munich's 3-1 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday with ten men after Arjen Robben was sent off for a second yellow card.

Hofmann, 26, spent the 2014/15 season on loan at Mainz before joining Gladbach from Dortmund in January 2016 and the box-to-box midfielder shone at Borussia Park.

Gladbach took the lead when Belgium midfielder Thorgan Hazard put in a perfectly-timed pass and Hofmann fired home with 21 minutes gone.
The pair then combined again in emphatic style, conjuring up three goals in a devastating 10-minute spell after the break.

After a good pass from Gladbach captain Lars Stindl, Hazard fed the ball into Hofmann who fired in off the post on 53 minutes.
With the Mainz defence in tatters, Hazard then scored one of his own five minutes later by volleying home a great pass by French forward Alassane Plea.

With Gladbach counter-attacking at will, Hofmann wrapped up his hat-trick on 63 minutes by tucking the ball around Mainz goalkeeper Florian Mueller from outside the box.