Borussia Monchengladbach moved to third in the Bundesliga with a comfortable 4-1 victory over bottom placed Werder Bremen whose Luca Caldirola was sent off.
Max Kruse scored his first goal since October to give the Foals the lead in the 32nd minute before his cross was converted by Oscar Wendt 6 minutes later to double Lucien Favre's sides lead.
Zlatko Junuzovic scored his second goal in as many games with a fantastic curling costless kick 5 minutes into the second half to give the relegation favourites a slim chance of a comeback.
Those hopes were shattered as Christoph Kramer scored his second goal of the season from defensive midfield in the 64th minute.
21-year-old Branimir Hrgota got his first Bundesliga goal of the season as Thorgan Hazard slid the ball to him on the edge of the 6-yard-box.
The Foals got the game underway and Ibrahim Traore quickly dribbled down the right hand side but to no avail.
Lucien Favre's side had the best chance of the first 10 minutes with winger Patrick Hermann competing with Wolf for the ball just inside the area after the ball came in from Traore, who caused a scramble for Werder just minutes earlier with a dangerous ball in from the right. Wolf parried it out of Hermann's path just in time to stop Gladbach scoring early deservedly after a lively start.
Werder Bremen let Gladbach play possession football, calming the game down after a nervy first 10 minutes. Hermann and Traore continued to cause problems down the flanks and Xhaka and Kramer looked for the pair going forward every time, Hermann earning a costless kick in the 13th minute.
Yet with so much to play for as the relegation hottens up before the Hinrude, Werder had to break away from the back. A quick break away engineered by Fritz resulted in Phillip Bargfrede's long shot being blocked. With pace in the form of Hermann, Gladbach made an incisive break away only to lack the penetrating power which stops them from cementing themselves as a top European side. 20 minutes gone and Gladbach had 70% of possession but no shots in comparison to Werder Bremen's 3 with little possession.
Bremen showed their willingness to counter once more, driving forward for the best chance of the game. Makiadi received the ball on the edge of the 6-yard-box but instead of releasing the shot, passed it back to the on running trio of Werder Bremen players but with one offside and the others too far behind the lay off the great chance came to nothing.
Just one minute after the half hour mark Max Kruse put Favre's side in front with a cool left footed penalty into the bottom corner. Ibrahima Traore sprinted between two Werder defenders into the box only to be brought down by Bargfrede two yards into the area.
Kruse took his tally for the season up to 6 scoring his first goal since October and confidence returned to Borussia Park.
Gladbach pressed forward and Kruse's chip dribbled just wide as he was sent through brilliantly by Hrgota, it wouldn't have counted as he was called offside but Kruse looked more lively.
And with confidence returned and Kruse making runs all over the pitch Gladbach doubled their lead. Kruse sweeping the ball into the path of Oscar Wendt, charging into the box. Wendt tried to punt the ball over Wolf's head and a deflection from the chest of Caldirola helped it on it's way in to give Wendt his first goal of the season and Kruse his 4th assist of the season.
the pitch in the first half
Werder Bremen came out for the second half looking to sit back further than in the first. After kicking off they kept possession in the middle third of the pitch but Gladbach, with a two goal lead, pushed the defensive line higher forcing mistakes and stole the ball.
As Werder Bremen pushed forward with another week in the relegation zone looming, Selassie drove a fierce ball into the hands of Sommer who caught it easily. Bremen kept pushing and forced a handball from Granit Xhaka, earning a costless-kick on the right edge of the box.
Junuzovic stepped up to take and curled a beauty into the right hand corner, even if it only produced a smile and a small fist pump from Viktor Skripnik it was well-worthy of a way back into the game. With Sommer's wall blocking his view, Junuzovic got his second goal in as many games, coming to rescue for Werder Bremen again. The Austrian now has 3 goals and 6 assists for Bremen in the Bundesliga.
Sommer was called for again by Junozovic just a minute later as Skripnik's side piled forward to keep Junuzovic's fantastic strike from only being a consolation.
Favre brought Thorgan Hazard on for Patrick Hermann as the German picked up an injury.
Jantschke charged forward but was brought down by Caldirola. Gladbach brought their high defensive line even further forward for the costless kick on the right wing and continued to press after Max Kruse's shot was saved by Wolf.
Thorgan Hazard, the substitute, played Max Kruse through to the byline and he floated a ball over the top for Christoph Kramer to head down past Wolf fantastically and reinstate Gladbach's two goal lead.
Gladbach capitalised on Bremen's need to press forward and counter attacked down the right-hand side once more hoping to force a foul from Caldirola, on a booking. They forced another late challenge from Caldirola as Hazard stormed down the right flank at speed and the 23 year old picked up his second booking in just three minutes to be sent down the tunnel early.
With a one man advantage, the Foals pressed Bremen even higher and broke away even quicker with Kruse and Hazard working brilliantly on both sides of the pitch. Hazard was given a license to roam across to the right-hand side and did to great effect, playing a key role in each attack.
Raul Brouwers was brought off for Julian Korb just after Bremen sealed their defence up, with Caldirola absent, talking off David Selke - who played poorly - for Husling, making his Bundesliga debut. Korb took Jantschke's place on the right hand side with Jantschke shifting to centre-back, taking away the threat of his runs down the right flank.
Lucien Favre's side simply waited like a lion watching his prey with Werder Bremen outnumbered and outclassed and only venturing forward very timidly to prevent a rout.
Yet a lion always pounces. With 3 minutes left of the 90, Thorgan Hazard capitalised on a mistake from Werder Bremen, snatching the ball as it was lofted forward. The Belgian forced the keeper to come out to meet him in the box before playing a simple pass to Hrgota who made secured the 3 points.
At a time when Lucien Favre's side could have pushed forward and left themselves open at the back they waited to use their incisive counter attacks until they found a chink in the armour of Werder Bremen.
After bringing off Max Kruse for Nordtvelt they had full control over the game and found the chink in the armour they searched for over ten minutes. When it came they were clinical with Hazard playing in Hrgota for the 21-year-old to pass it into the net.
Gladbach left Borussia Park with 3 points and a comfortable, professional 4-1 win. Max Kruse put in a stellar performance, scoring the opener and assisting the second and third while the introduction of Thorgan Hazard coincided with the best performance from Gladbach of the whole match.
Werder Bremen spend another few days bottom of the Bundesliga while Borussia Monchengladbach are snapping at the heels of the best teams in the league and now lie in 3rd after overtaking Bayer Leverkusen.