Borussia Dortmund remain hot on the trail of Bayern Munich with an impressive away win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Marco Reus opened the scoring before Henrikh Mkhitaryan doubled the lead in the second half. Raffael made things nervy for the visitors with a goal of his own before Ilkay Gündogan put the game out of reach for the hosts.

A disappointing result for Mönchengladbach who are looking to continue the great form they were in before the winter break. Dortmund meanwhile are still keeping things close at the top of the table, just eight points off of Bayern Munich.

Reus nets the opener

Borussia-Park was the venue for this fixture and it didn't take long for the home side to get going as they came close to taking the leader after just six minutes. Andreas Christensen fought off his marker on a corner and had a free header but the young centre-half could only watch as his header skimmed the top of the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Dortmund had a chance of their own but the ever-reliable Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dragged his shot wide of the post. Oscar Wendt went close in the 20th minute, firing a shot across the face of goal but no one managed to get on the end of it and the ball rolled wide. The closest anyone came was just after the half hour mark as Ilkay Gündogan lined up a shot from around 30 yards and smashed the crossbar. 

The deadlock was finally broken four minutes before the break as Marco Reus beat the offside trap, finishing low and hard past Yann Sommer into the bottom corner. A muted celebration from the former-Gladbach man but nonetheless, his side led 1-0.

It should've been 2-0 a couple of minutes later thanks to brilliant work from Aubameyang, his ball found Mkhitaryan at the back post but he scuffed a shot and failed to hit the target.

BVB celebrate against their Borussia rivals. | Image source: kicker - Getty Images
BVB celebrate against their Borussia rivals. | Image source: kicker - Getty Images

Dortmund seal the win

Six minutes of the second half passed before Dortmund doubled their lead thanks to Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Reus found the winger in acres of space at the far post and Mkhitaryan slotted past Sommer with ease to make it 2-0. Gladbach found a way back into the game before the hour mark with Raffael scoring his seventh of the season. The ball bounced around the Dortmund penalty area before it fell to the feet of the Brazilian striker, who made no mistake with a near post finish.

The three points were wrapped up with 15 minutes to play as a cross into the box was flicked home by an on-rushing Gündogan to make it 3-1 on the night. 

We were almost set up for a grandstand finish but Jonas Hofmann's shot trickled inches wide against his old club.

Dortmund move within eight points of league leaders Bayern Munich while Mönchengladbach remain in fourth place for now, but can drop out of the top four if Schalke win on Sunday.

Dortmund host Ingolstadt next week and Gladbach pay a visit to 1. FSV Mainz 05.

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About the author
Harry  Harris
Covering the Premier League, Bundesliga and NFL. Writing for VAVEL since May 2014. Chelsea FC and Atlanta sports.