Bayern Munich secured a comeback win against Monchengladbach, remaining two points behind league leader Bayer Leverkusen.
BERLIN, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich came from behind to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 while Bundesliga leader Bayer Leverkusen defended its two-point advantage thanks to a 2-0 win over Darmstadt in the 20th round on Saturday.
The Bavarians started brightly on home soil and created clearcut opportunities through Leroy Sane, who came close twice in the opening stages after rattling the crossbar before pulling wide from promising position moments later.
Bayern piled on the pressure but couldn't break the deadlock as Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas was equal to Harry Kane's long-range hammer at the half hour mark.
The Foals suddenly sparked to life moments later as Florian Neuhaus' dangerous shot got defused by Matthijs de Ligt while Jordan headed just wide from close range in quick succession.
Clinical Monchengladbach eventually stunned Bayern in the 35th minute as Manuel Neuer's misplaced pass allowed Nico Elvedi to break the deadlock into the bottom right corner.
Bayern responded well and restored parity 10 minutes later after Thomas Muller's through ball found Aleksandar Pavlovic, who made no mistake and drilled the ball past Nicolas.
The German record champion remained on the front foot after the restart as Jamal Musiala rattled the side netting in the 49th minute whereas Kane couldn't beat Nicolas from 13 meters at the hour mark.
Bayern's efforts got rewarded in the 70th minute when Nicolas underestimated Leon Goretzka's cross into the box, allowing Kane to mark his 24th goal of the season after nodding home into the empty goal.
The German giants weren't done with the scoring and made it 3-1 after De Ligt headed home Sane's inswinging freekick to put the result beyond doubt in the 86th minute.
With the result, Bayern has a two-point gap into next week's top clash against Leverkusen. Meanwhile, Monchengladbach slipped to the 13th spot in the standings.
"We stayed calm and responded well after falling behind. We did our homework. It was a decent performance against a difficult opponent," said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.
In the other matches, Leverkusen remains atop the standings after moving 2-0 past Darmstadt thanks to the brace from Nathan Tella.
Stuttgart cemented its third place as the Swabians worked out a 3-1 victory against Freiburg.
Werder Bremen secured its third straight victory as Marvin Ducksch's early goal was enough to edge relegation threatened Mainz 1-0.
Bochum and Augsburg played out a 1-1 draw and Cologne clinch vital points in the relegation battle after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0. ■
